INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - It took a winless team to figure out how to topple the defending champion.

Bucking all odds, the University of the Philippines Maroons barged into the win column in grand fashion yesterday by shocking the erstwhile unbeaten Ateneo Eagles, 68-58, in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the PhilSports Arena.

A 14-0 blitz at the start of the second half sparked the Maroons to a 43-35 lead from 29-35, before a hot-shooting performance by Woody Co kept the overwhelming underdogs on top for the rest of the game.

“It was like David and Goliath,” said coach Aboy Castro, whose Maroons shot a staggering 89 percent from the field in the fourth quarter.

“We just wanted to show not just Ateneo and the league, but more so ourselves, that we have discipline in the team. And I think we executed well today not only in offense, but also in defense.”

The season’s first big upset overshadowed the first-game thriller that saw La Salle pull off a 64-63 overtime escape against Adamson.

Maui Villanueva buried the game-clinching free throw off a foul by Adamson rookie Eric Camson with 3.7 seconds remaining as the Archers picked up their second straight triumph after a 0-2 start.

The Archers drew career-high performances from Kish Co and Hyram Bagatsing, the senior role players who knocked in clutch baskets that kept them afloat in overtime and the fourth period.

“Even though we’re a young team, we showed that we won’t run away from a game like this,” said La Salle coach Franz Pumaren. “We can survive as long as we execute well and do our game plan.”

Woody Co and Mark Lopez buried 15 points apiece for the Maroons, who came into the game averaging a league-worst 30 turnovers.

“We felt like we won the championship, obviously we love the feeling,” said Castro after the Maroons posted their first victory against Ateneo since 2004.

“We knew we could play with them and we just wanted to increase our intensity and play with more composure.”

The Eagles dropped to a share of first place with the idle Far Eastern U Tamaraws and University of Santo Tomas at 3-1.

It was also Ateneo coach Norman Black’s first loss against the Maroons, who last stunned the Eagles, 74-68, in September 2004.

Ateneo’s 58-point production was also its lowest since 2005.

Kish Co capped his 17-point production with a short jumper that gave the Archers a 62-58 lead in the last 2:25 minutes of the extra period.

Bagatsing fired nine of his 11 points from beyond the arc, including a triple that lifted the Archers, 56-54, after a four-minute scoring drought toward the end of regulation.

It was the third heartbreaker for the Falcons, who lost three of their four games by just an average of 1.7 points.

“We don’t really have a go-to guy like a Macmac (Cardona) or a JV (Casio), so every game is an opportunity for someone to step up,” said Co, an honor student who opted to skip last year’s campaign.

A couple of turnovers and Camson’s foul in the last 30 seconds doomed the Falcons, who last held the lead at 63-62 with 57.4 seconds left on a Lester Alvarez drive.

Alvarez also finished with a career-high 24 points, including a jumper with 24.5 ticks remaining in the fourth period that forged overtime at 56-all.

In a gesture seen all over the country, coaches and players also sported yellow tapes, ribbons and wrist bands to honor the cancer-stricken former President Corazon Aquino.

Earlier, Katherine Sandel shot 22 points as Adamson stretched its unbeaten run to three games with a 60-52 triumph over Far Eastern to grab the solo lead in women’s action.

The Lady Tamaraws fell to a four-way tie at 2-1 with the La Salle Lady Archers, who repulsed the winless University of the East Lady Warriors, 84-72.

The scores:

First Game

LA SALLE 64—Co 17, Bagatsing 11, Malabes 8, Webb 6, Mangahas 5, Bringas 5, Tolentino 4, Villanueva 3, Atkins 2, Andrada 2, Ferdinand 1, Mendoza 0, Marata 0, Banal 0.

ADAMSON 63—Alvarez 24, Margallo 7, Camson 7, Lozada 5, Colina 5, Santos 4, Galinato 4, Canuday 4, Cañada 2, Lapitan 1, Cabrera 0, Basilio 0.

Quarters: 14-17, 20-23, 42-41, 56-56 (reg), 64-63 (OT)

Second Game

UP 68—Lopez 15, Co 15, Gomez 9, Padilla 8, Sison 7, Braganza 7, De Asis 3, Maniego 2, Juruena 2, Mi. Reyes 0, Ma. Reyes 0, Gingerich 0, Gamboa 0.

ATENEO 58—Al-Hussaini 17, Salva 11, Salamat 9, Reyes 8, Long 5, Monfort 3, Chua 2, Baclao 2, Gonzaga 1, Tiongson 0, Sumalinog 0, Golla 0, De Chavez 0, Buenafe 0, Austria 0.

Quarters: 18-22, 29-35, 46-41, 68-58