UAAP: Harold Alarcon scores career high, UP beats UE ahead of Final Four

Harold Alarcon scores career high to propel UP Fighting Maroons to a win over UE in their final UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball eliminatio round game. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Harold Alarcon erupted with a career-high 33 points to allow University of the Philippines to end its elimination round with a bang ahead of the Final Four round of the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament.

The Fighting Maroons added to the woes of skidding University of the East with a 77-67 victory on Wednesday at FilOil EcoOil Centre and will be stepping into the semifinals with an 11-3 (win-loss) record.

READ: UAAP: UP shuts down FEU’s Final Four bid, ends slump

“It just justifies that anytime we get two straight losses, maganda ang kapalit dalawang sunod na panalo and obviously there are no implications in terms of the seeding for us but just like what coach Goldwin [Monteverde] always say every practice, every game is like a championship for us,” assistant coach Christian Luanzon said as the Maroons strung up back-to-back wins heading into the playoffs.

WATCH: UP assistant coach Christian Luanzon, Harold Alarcon, and Quentin Millora-Brown on ending the eliminations with a two-game winning streak. #UAAPSeason87 | @LanceAgcaoilINQ pic.twitter.com/1V8NDVMi8r

— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) November 20, 2024

Alarcon shot the lights out with a 12-of-17 clip, a remarkable 70.6 percent shooting, and made five of his eight three-point attempts. He also made seven of his nine tries inside the arc and missed just one from the free throw line as he picked up 16 of those points in the fourth quarter alone.

Quentin Millora-Brown poured in a double-double performance of 16 points on a 70 percent shooting other than 12 rebounds while the rest of the usual contributors for UP were held to single digits.

READ: UAAP: JD Cagulangan, UP dedicate win to late coach Ricky Dandan

“Tsamba lang yun,” Alarcon said of his scorching performance. “Yung defense binibigay sakin, pag free kinukuha ko naman tapos pag nakikita kong shumu-shoot tina-try ko pa rin baka ulit ma-shoot yung tira ko.”

“I am just finding anything I can do to help the team. That’s the focus of every game,” Millora-Brown said as UP now sets its sights on its semifinal clash against University of Santo Tomas.

The Red Warriors slumped to a fifth straight loss even with the 14 points of Jack Cruz-Dumont. After serving a one game suspension, Precious Momowei is back in his usual form, matching his counterparts’ all-around performance with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Rainer Maga also added 11 points as UE’s Final Four hopes are no longer in its control. The Warriors would hope for Ateneo to defeat No. 5 Adamson, which stands with a 5-8 card and can still snag a playoff seat, on Saturday in the same San Juan City venue to earn an outright semifinal berth.

But if the Soaring Falcons win, UE and Adamson will have a playoff for the last available Final Four slot.