INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines--The University of the Philippines scored a breakthrough with debuting coach Aboy Castro as the Maroons pulled off an 86-72 surprise victory over the National University in the 71st UAAP men's basketball competition Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.

Martin Reyes shot a game-high 21 points as the Maroons, who lost all 14 elimination games last season, scooted to a 48-38 advantage built on a 51.5-percent shooting clip in the first half.

"More than what I'm feeling, it's the feeling of the players that's important," said UP coach Aboy Castro, who replaced fiery coach Joe Lipa last February.

"This is just my first game and they haven't won in 23 months. It's a good start for UP. I think our conditioning was good; we kept on running."

Sustaining his shooting touch, Reyes also nailed clutch triples to keep the Bulldogs at bay in the closing periods.

"The first thing we needed to do was to instill the winning attitude; the belief that they can win; and in this game they showed it," said Castro after the Maroons joined opening-day winners University of the East and Far Eastern University for the early lead.

The scores:
UP 86--Reyes 21, Marfori 11, Agbayani 11, Sison 9, Gamboa 8, Sorongon 8, Braganza 7, Co 5, Hipolito 4, Lopez 2, Astorga 0, De Asis 0.

NU 72--Jahnke 17, Aguilar 13, Garcia 13, Ponferrada 9, Baloran 7, Asoro 4, Tungkul 3, Fabula 3, Dela Cruz 2, Berry 1, Galapon 0,Luy 0, Catamora 0.
Quarters: 17-28, 48-38, 68-56, 86-72