MANILA, Philippines – For the fourth straight UAAP season, the mighty UP Fighting Maroons earned a men’s basketball finals berth after ousting the UST Growling Tigers out of Season 87 title contention, 78-69, at the Araneta Coliseum on Saturday, November 30.
With the win, the Maroons clinched the first of two finals seats, the last one still to be contested between the defending champion La Salle Green Archers and huge underdog Adamson Soaring Falcons later in the evening.
Harold Alarcon — coming off a 33-point explosion in his last game — stayed scorching hot in the semifinals with a 16-point burst, 14 coming in the second half alone.
Quentin Millora-Brown, meanwhile, made great use of his 6-foot-10 frame with a staggering 9-point, 19-rebound effort with 4 blocks and 3 assists to boot.
Fresh off a stellar second-quarter effort, UST looked poised to take over early in the third, mounting a 40-34 lead off one of many Gelo Crisostomo mid-range jumpers that would scatter throughout the evening.
UP, ever a dangerous third-quarter team, once again turned on the jets in response to the two-possession separation, exploding with a momentum-sealing 21-4 run to suddenly mount a 55-44 advantage, capped by a JD Cagulangan jumper with 2:24 left.
Withstanding a barrage of Alarcon mid-range jumpers to kick off the final frame, the Tigers only managed to get within 4, 62-58, with 6:55 left in regulation, before Alarcon simply kept going with more middies on the way to a decisive 10-3 final spurt in the final 3:02 of the contest, 72-61.
“For us, we expected a tough fight against UST. The way they run their program this season, we saw that as the season progresses, they’re improving a lot,” said UP head coach Goldwin Monteverde.
“On our end, what’s important for us is the way we responded. I believe in the second half, we started moving the ball well and we had the momentum.”
Kyle Paranada, Nic Cabañero, and Crisostomo each scored 12 in the season-ending loss, while UST star guard Forthsky Padrigao added 7 points and 3 assists, before a crucial ejection with 3:24 left in regulation off his second unsportsmanlike foul of the evening, both against Millora-Brown.
The Scores
UP 78 – Lopez 16, Alarcon 16, Torres 13, Millora-Brown 9, Fortea 8, Cagulangan 6, Ududo 3, Felicilda 2, Stevens 2, Belmonte 2, Bayla 0, Abadiano 0.
UST 69 – Paranada 12, Cabañero 12, Crisostomo 12, Manaytay 10, Tounkara 8, Padrigao 7, Acido 3, Pangilinan 3, Llemit 2, Estacio 0, Danting 0, Laure 0.
Quarters: 16-14, 33-35, 57-50, 78-69.
– Rappler.com