On a day when Ateneo rolled to a routine victory, University of the Philippines star Paul Desiderio delivered another endgame masterpiece like only he can.
Reprising his heroics early in the tournament, Desiderio canned a triple with 1.1 seconds remaining as the Fighting Maroons subdued the Far Eastern U Tamaraws, 59-56, to boost their Final Four hopes in UAAP Season 80 basketball tournament at Mall of Asia Arena.
With shouts of ’Atin To’ reverberating from the UP gallery in reference to his statement before making the buzzer beating triple that stunned University of Santo Tomas in the first round, Desiderio drilled the shot at a time when the Maroons’ Final Four hopes were slowly fading following a poor run of form. UP pulled level with FEU at fourth spot with 5-6 records.
“My mindset was we needed this win,” said Desiderio who was 1-of-9 from beyond the arc before making the triple. “I really didn’t care anymore. It was a win or we were going to overtime.”
Already assured of a postseason spot, the Blue Eagles refused to pull their punches in a 97-73 whipping of the University of the East Warriors for an 11th straight victory.
The win gave the Eagles a twice-to-beat edge in the Final Four, although they are still on track of completing a 14-game sweep of the elimination round that will give them an outright finals spot.
“We’re happy to get this one under our belt,” said Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin, whose team led by as many as 31 points in the final frame and also had 26 assists. “Every game is a step forward forward for our team. A lot of things to be pleased but there are still a lot of things we can improve on.”
ATENEO 97 – UE 73
ATENEO 97—Ravena 17, Mendoza 13, Tolentino 12, Verano 12, Asistio 9, Porter 9, Nieto Mi. 7, Ikeh 7, Mamuyac 3, Nieto Ma. 2, Go 2, Black 2, Andrade 2, Tio 0, White 0.
UE 73—Maloles 20, Olayon 15, Pasaol 8, Bartolome 7, Cullar 5, Varilla 5, Acuno 4, Derige 4, Manalang 3, Conner 2, Cruz 0, Toribio 0.
Quarters: 21-18, 48-35, 71-52, 97-73
UP 59 – FEU 56
UP 59—Desiderio 15, Ouattara 10, Manzo 7, Gomez de Liaño Ju. 7, Gomez de Liaño Ja. 6, Lim 6, Vito 5, Lao 2, Jaboneta 1, Webb 0, Prado 0, Dario 0, Ricafort 0, Battad 0, Romero 0.
FEU 56—Parker 13, Tolentino 12, Dennison 9, Comboy 6, Trinidad 4, Cani 3, Orizu 3, Ramirez 3, Tuffin 2, Eboña 1, Iñigo 0.
Quarters: 14-18, 32-25, 37-47, 59-56