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| Dennis Acosta |
By Ivan Saldajeno
QUEZON CITY─Some tagged UP as a dark horse for this UAAP season.
The Fighting
Maroons showed them they are right.
UP began the
UAAP men’s basketball tournament with 62-55 win over UE in a rematch of last
year’s opener at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.
After a
highly-physical first quarter expected of both teams’ defense-oriented style,
the Fighting Maroons began making their shots in the second, making 18 points
and led, 29-25, at the half.
They threatened
to pull away in the third, opening an eight-point advantage at the end of the
quarter, 45-37.
But the Red
Warriors opened the fourth with back-to-back baskets to come to within four,
41-45.
Gelo Vito then
sizzled later in the period, scoring three triples in a row to cap an 11-2 run
to up the lead to 13, 56-43, with 4:37 remaining.
UE had one final
push, trimming the gap to four, 59-55, with 20.8 seconds left, but UP held on
to the lead, sealing the win with three charities for the final tally.
Vito led the
Fighting Maroons, who won in a season opener for the first time since 2011,
with 11 points, making all but one of his five field goals.
Edson Batiller
had a game-high 17 markers for the Red Warriors, but he went only 1-of-9 from
the free throw line. They actually made only 11 of 28 charities.
Box Scores:
UP 62-Vito 11,
Moralde 8, Desiderio 7, Manuel 7, Dario 6, Prado 6, Amar 4, Longa 4, Asilum 3,
Kone 3, Juruena 2, Gallarza 1, Harris 0, Jaboneta 0, Webb 0
UE 55-Batiller
17, Javier 10, Palma 6, Manalang 5, Abanto 4, De Leon 4, Charcos 2, Gagate 2,
Sta. Ana 2, Yu 2, Varilla 1, Derige 0, Gonzales 0
Quarterscores:
11-7, 29-25, 45-37, 62-55
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