It was a double victory for the UP Fighting Maroons over the University of the East (UE) Red Warriors in the 88th season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) basketball tournament on Nov. 8 at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Quadricentennial Pavilion.
The UP Men’s Basketball Team (UPMBT) defeated the UE Red Warriors, 70-61, while the UP Women’s Basketball Team (UPWBT) overwhelmed the UE Lady Warriors, 81-67 in their latest game. The UPMBT’s big men Francis Nnoruka and Sean Alter’s impressive showing in the early goings of the game, enabled the UP Fighting Maroons to cruise a 44-25 advantage at the halftime break. The UPMBT continued its scoring barrage and was able to establish its biggest lead to 26 points, 59-33, courtesy of an and-one play by Gani Stevens at the 2:33 mark of the third quarter.
Nonetheless, the Red Warriors fought back at the start of the final period and was able to cut down UP Fighting Maroons’ lead to 14 points. Nnoruka, however, answered with an eight-point swing, shutting UE’s hopes down as UPMBT clinched its eighth win in 11 games.
Nnoruka paced the UP Fighting Maroons with 16 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks, four assists, and a steal. Alter contributed 13 points, while Gerry Abadiano scored 10 points.
Meanwhile, Kaye Pesquera saw action for the UPWBT after missing eight games due to a left knee injury. Pesquera quickly made her presence felt by contributing nine points, four rebounds, one assist, and one steal in UPWBT’s victory against the Lady Warriors.
The two teams engaged in a hot contest during the game’s first two quarters. With the score tied at 24 apiece, Pesquera teamed up with Louna Ozar, Camille Nolasco, and Marielle Vingno to ignite a 21-9 scoring run to give the UP Fighting Maroons a 12-point advantage, 45-33, at halftime. The UPWBT continued its good offense in the third frame as their lead ballooned to 21 points, 72-51, going into the last quarter.
The Lady Warriors stood their ground at the start of the payoff period by making an 11-2 scoring spree to cut the UP Fighting Maroons’ lead to 12 points, 62-74, with four minutes and 38 seconds remaining. The UPWBT, however, answered with a seven-to-two counter-run and re-established a 17-point advantage, 81-64, with a minute and five seconds left to seal the game for the UP Fighting Maroons.
Nolasco led the UPWBT with 16 points, four rebounds, three assists, and one steal. Achrissa Maw tallied a double-double performance with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Ozar finished with 10 points, nine assists, eight rebounds, and four blocks, and Alex Mendoza chipped in 10 points, three assists, and a steal.
The UP Fighting Maroons’ next game is set on Nov. 16 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. The UPMBT will take on the Adamson University (AdU) Soaring Falcons at 4:30 p.m. while the UPWBT will battle the AdU Lady Falcons at 7 p.m.