Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
University of the Philippines stayed in contention in the Filoil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup after upending UAAP rival National University, 59-56, in the group stages Wednesday at the tournament’s namesake arena in San Juan.
Jun Manzo stepped on the clutch pedal to save the Fighting Maroons from elimination, hitting a triple from the top of the key with 54.4 seconds remaining to put them ahead by three.
Then Janjan Jaboneta locked UP’s place in the quarterfinals with a block on Jjay Alejandro’s three-point attempt with less than 20 seconds remaining.
UP head coach Bo Perasol, who fielded a team without stars Paul Desiderio, Diego Dario and Juan Gomez De Liaño, knew their final game in Group B would turn into a simulation of the UAAP and was time for his reserves to step up to the plate.
“I asked them truthfully, ‘do you really think we can win this game without our top three scorers?’ and I really felt their confidence when they all said yes,” said Perasol.
“We were able to grind it out and that’s going to benefit the team in the future. Whatever confidence our second stringers got this game, we’re going to need that come UAAP time.”
Perasol allowed Desiderio to go to Cebu to attend to his family while Gomez De Liaño is participating in a Nike 3×3 event. Dario was in the venue but did not suit up for the game.
The Fighting Maroons survived despite getting outrebounded, in the offensive glass by the Bulldogs, 19-11.
UP used its stingy defense to counteract the Bulldogs’ rebounding, holding NU to 29 percent shooting, 22-of-75.
Noah Webb finished with a game-high 17 points to lead UP while Jarell Lim filled up the stat sheets with seven points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
Dave Yu led the Bulldogs with 16 points as they finished at fifth place in Group B with a 4-4 card.