Maroons continue hitting stride, halt leading Eagles
UP Fighting Maroons’ Francis Nnoruka during a game against Ateneo Blue Eagles in the UAAP Season 88 men’s volleyball tournament. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
It took the University of the Philippines to solve the UAAP puzzle that was Ateneo.
Starting strong and finishing even stronger, the defending champions halted the Blue Eagles’ run at four games after an 83-69 victory on Wednesday in Season 88’s men’s basketball tournament at Mall of Asia Arena.
“I believe we started well in the first quarter,” said UP coach Goldwin Monteverde, whose wards notched a third straight victory after starting the season on back-to-back defeats. “We told our bench players to try and sustain our momentum in the game.”
Francis Nnoruka dominated the paint in the UP win with 28 points and nine rebounds, while Noy Remogat and Harold Alarcon scored 20 and 17 points, respectively, to fuel their steady rise in the standings.
The Maroons took a slim lead at the half and turned it into a 64-49 after three quarters as the Blue Eagles again had another second-half letdown.
In starting the season with four straight wins, Ateneo has had a noticeable dip in the final two quarters of each game—and that came to bite Tab Baldwin’s charges hard this time.
“We didn’t really give that (second half) some [added] attention, but knowing coach Tab, he would adjust on those things properly,” Monteverde said.
NU rebounds
“We talked about our lapses in the first half, we addressed everything regarding our composure, and I think it showed,” he added.
In the first game, National University bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 56-54 victory over Adamson.
Jake Figueroa led NU with 17 points, three assists, two rebounds, three steals and two blocks in the win that sent the Bulldogs to a 4-1 record.
UP’s defense made sure Ateneo couldn’t get its main weapon going in the game. After averaging nine triples made a game (No. 1 in the league) on a 34.6 percent clip (No. 1), the Blue Eagles were held to just four three-pointers on 17.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Ateneo’s struggles inside the paint also showed. Ranked second to the last in points in the shaded area, the Blue Eagles attacked the paint three times in a third-quarter sequence and got nothing. Meanwhile, the Maroons sandwiched those misses with baskets of their own to take a 63-46 cushion, the game’s biggest at that point.
Shawn Tuano led the Blue Eagles, much like he did vs La Salle, but this time, his 17 points weren’t enough. Kymani Ladi had 15 as Ateneo dropped to a share of the lead with a 4-1 record.
