Maroons, Warriors pull off UAAP stunners

More than their counterparts, University of the Philippines coach Bo Perasol and University of the East rookie mentor Joe Silva carried the huge burden of expectations heading into their team’s matches on Sunday in UAAP Season 81.

By the time they left the Mall of Asia Arena, the two mentors took a measure of satisfaction with Perasol figuring out a way to solve the Fighting Maroons’ endgame woes and Silva grabbing his first victory as a coach in the collegiate level.

Four days after losing via a last-second shot to the league leading Adamson Falcons, the Maroons staved off a fourth quarter fightback from the La Salle Green Archers for a 67-61 victory that ended a four-game slide.

Later, the Warriors gifted Silva, a multititled coach with Ateneo in the juniors’ division, with a first victory at the expense of the surprisingly listless Far Eastern U Tamaraws, 90-65.

Alvin Pasaol came off the bench to knock in 25 points, 13 boards and five steals, while Philip Manalang got 13 points and 12 assists for the Warriors, who opened the season with four straight losses.

“Well, at least the monkey is off our backs,” said Silva. “I just told them to work hard and the results will follow. I told the boys we already deserved to win and they showed it today.”

The Tamaraws absorbed their second upset this season as they dropped to 2-2, which included a defeat to the University of Santo Tomas.

Bright Akhuetie delivered a strong performance for the second straight game with 19 points and 19 rebounds, while Juan Gomez De Liano finished with 17 points, including back-to-back baskets down the stretch that kept the Archers at bay.

“We needed these kinds of wins to know how to be better [in the endgame],” said Perasol, after the Maroons nearly wasted a 14-point advantage in the final period. “We know there’s much to be desired by how we ended the game, but we can’t forget the fact that we won.”

The Archers looked out of it after Akhuetie, Jun Manzo and Diego Dario combined to give the Maroons a 61-47 cushion. But unlike their loss to the Falcons last Wednesday when they gave up a nine-point lead late, the Maroons showed poise down the stretch as De Liano came up with big plays.