Marvelous Maroons: UP makes finals return; La Salle stays alive

University of the Philippines is off to the finals for a fifth straight season.

Senior Terrence Fortea drained the game-winning three-pointer to propel the reigning champions to a nail-biting, 82-81, escape over University of Santo Tomas in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 88 men’s basketball tournament Final Four on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Trailing by two after squandering a 15-point lead, Fortea had a good look at the basket and had a better result, swishing in the long bucket from the left elbow with 48.5 seconds left in the game that could’ve gone either way.

Center Francis Nnoruka kept UP in front by swatting away Tigers’ main gunner Nic Cabañero’s layup attempt on the other end. UST had one last chance to salvage its season after Harold Alarcon missed a jumper in the Fighting Maroon’ next possession but Cabañero bricked a potential game-winning jumper as Reyland Torres grabbed the defensive board before UP milked the clock off its final seconds.  

“Props to the whole team. It’s our collective team effort that got us the win. Each one of us worked and played our role to get this win,” said Fortea, who had eight points.

The Fighting Maroons will take on the survivor between De La Salle University and National University in the best-of-three championship series beginning next Wednesday.

UP will have to wait a little longer as the Green Archers shocked twice-to-beat and top-seeded Bulldogs, 87-77, in the first game.

Alarcon scored 22 points while Nnoruka posted 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Fighting Maroons, who started out flat after trailing 0-11 before unleashing a 23-0 run to take the helm.

UP went up 37-22 in the second quarter only to see UST take back the lead 74-70 with 5:03 left in the game with a completed four-point play by Amiel Acido.  

The Tigers missed the finals for the sixth straight year, again falling short of ending a 19-year title drought.

Cabañero finished with 24 points, Gelo Crisostomo had 15 markers while rookie center Collins Akowe had 11 points and 11 boards in a lost cause. Kyle Paranada added 10 for UST.

Meanwhile, the Green Archers, inspired by the miraculous return of Kean Baclaan from a knee injury and EJ Gollena back from a one-game suspension, flexed their defensive muscle in a decisive third quarter run to stay in the championship berth race.  

Playing at full strength for the first time in nearly two months, La Salle was in control for majority of the match and even held a 17-point advantage in the fourth period.

But it was in the third canto that the Green Archers dictated the outcome of the match.

La Salle limited the Bulldogs to just eight points while piling up 19 to create a significant cushion.

The Green Archers went ahead, 71-54, after Mike Phillips and Luis Pablo hit back-to-back baskets early in the payoff period.

“We’re extremely grateful and blessed to be here. Again, we just tried to prolong the series,” third year head coach Topex Robinson said.