University of the Philippines and De La Salle University flaunted their might to book their spots in the finals of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 86 men’s basketball tournament last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The top seed Fighting Maroons ended Ateneo de Manila University’s reign with a 57-46 win while No. 2 Green Archers eked out a 97-73 victory over National University in the Final Four to set a best-of-three championship duel.
Game 1 of their best-of-three title series is set Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
UP leaned on a strong second half to bring down the Blue Eagles and advance to its third straight trip to the finals.
The Fighting Maroons got their game going in the third period, outscoring the Blue Eagles, 20-12, before clamping down on defense that limited the dethroned champions to just nine points in the final canto.
Reigning Most Valuable Player Malick Diouf had a monster game piling up a double-double of 12 points and 16 rebounds he laced with three blocks and an assist for UP, which snapped Ateneo’s six consecutive championship appearance.
It was a chess match in the first two quarters as both teams engaged in a defensive tug-of-war, not letting anyone get enough room to pull away.
The Blue Eagles entered the halftime with a 25-22 lead.
“I think the score says it all. The first half was like 25 to 22. And that’s a one quarter score. So both teams just came prepared especially on the defensive end, both teams also struggled offensively,” UP assistant coach Christian Luanzon said.
Ahead by just five entering the fourth period, Gerry Abadiano, Francis Lopez, and Janjan Felicilda drained the much-needed baskets that allowed the Fighting Maroons to stretch their lead to nine, 53-44, with 3:51 left
Joseph Obasa scored on a drive to cut Ateneo’s deficit to 46-53 with 2:23 left but it turned out to be the ousted titlist’s last basket of the ballgame. Lopez put the game away with a basket before sinking two free throws to push UP’s lead to 11 with under 20 seconds left.
“We got it going in the third quarter, had a couple of bank shots from our players but more than that, they just fought hard and kept grinding until the end. That’s hats off to all the players,” Luanzon said.
Lopez had 12 markers and 10 boards while Felicilda and Abadiano finished with 10 and nine markers, respectively, as the Fighting Maroons remained on the right track of reclaiming the title it lost in Season 85.
It will be the first time the Blue Eagles got sent into an early vacation since missing the championship round in 2015.
The loss also marked the first time head coach Tab Baldwin came up short of bringing Ateneo to the finals since taking over the coaching reins in 2016.
Baldwin, who won four titles during the Blue Eagles’ six straight finals stint, refused to see the defeat as a failure but a motivation heading into the next season.
“So a lot of people will look at this season, and they’ll say it’s a season of failure, it’s a season of indifference,” he said.
“But you know, I choose to look at the glass being half full. And I’d like to think this season is a bridge for us.”
Chris Koon led Ateneo with 10 points and eight rebounds, Kai Ballungay had eight markers while one-and-done foreign student-athlete Obasa had four points and grabbed 10 boards.
