Familiarity with Desiderio key in stopping UP, says Macaraya

FILE – Paul Desiderio puts the ball on the floor during the Fighting Maroons’ game against the Adamson Falcons. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

San Sebastian and University of the Philippines were both jockeying for a top spot in Group B of the Filoil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup.

Both teams each had one loss prior to the Wednesday, and it was the Stags who walked away with their sixth straight loss

Vital to the 64-51 win, Stags head coach Egay Macaraya said, was San Sebastian’s familiarity with Paul Desiderio.

READ: Filoil: San Sebastian blasts UP for sixth straight win

“Desierio is practicing at San Sebastian also because of Café France, and the players know and see how great of a player Desiderio is,” said Macaraya as they improved to 6-1. “They tried to stop Desiderio and that was the key in the win today.”

The person tasked with dogging Desiderio around was the 6-foot-2 forward Jason David who held the husky Maroon guard to two points on 0-8 shooting.

David, for his part, finished with 13 points, four rebounds, six assists, two steals, and a block.

He also shot a respectable 5-of-11 from the field.

“Coach just told me to play defense and that will help us to win,” said David. “Our defense is the only weapon we have here.”