Desiderio struggles, praises ‘great defender’ Dennison in UP loss to FEU

FEU’s Ron Dennison shoots over UP’s Paul Desiderio during their game in the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament. The Tamaraws won, 78-59. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Paul Desiderio and Ron Dennison have a long history together.

The two were teammates in University of Visayas and entered the UAAP in Season 76 and have crossed paths ever since.

But their duel has been one-sided and the trend continued on Sunday when Dennison led Far Eastern University, 78-57, over Desiderio’s University of the Philippines in the first round of the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament.

READ: FEU rolls to 3rd straight win, routs UP

Desiderio, who was averaging 21 points a game heading into the matchup, ran into Dennison and FEU and he had little to show with only nine points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field.

“I was expecting Dennison to come out like that,” said Desiderio in Filipino. “He knew everything that I was going to do, and I really struggled on offense.”

READ: Familiarity helps Dennison stop Desiderio

Dennison was also effecting on the offensive end with16 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.

Dennison made a name for himself as a gritty defender but Desiderio wasn’t surprised with how the FEU guard excelled on both ends of the floor.

Dennison averaged just 2.1 points a game in his first four years in the league, but he has proven this season he can be lethal on offense as well as one of the team’s primary scoring options.

“Ron really is a great defender since high school, he knew every single one of my moves. I really struggled against him,” said Desiderio.

“And I’m not really surprised that he’s been scoring a lot lately because he’s really a great basketball player.”