Pumaren on UE loss to UP: ‘Desiderio killed us’

UE head coach Derrick Pumaren. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

It took just one man to crush University of the East’s fighting spirit.

And that man, according to Red Warriors head coach Derrick Pumaren, was University of the Philippines’ Paul Desiderio, who had a career game on Sunday.

“Desiderio killed us in the third and we lost our pace, we simply ran away from what we were supposed to do,” said Pumaren after losing to UP, 84-71, in the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament.

READ: Desiderio sets career-high, UP pulls away in 2nd half to beat UE

UE had control of the game heading into the break with a 42-38 lead but the start of the second half saw Desiderio catch fire.

Desiderio scored 16 of the Fighting Maroons’ 26 points in the third quarter while the Red Warriors only had seven points to show. 

The Red Warriors were rattled in the third quarter while Desiderio, who set a career-high 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, went on a scoring splurge.

“Instead of fighting, instead of competing, we just put our heads down and we let them run over us,” Pumaren said.