SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – After absorbing a shock loss to the La Salle Green Archers in their previous outing, the league-leading UP Fighting Maroons bounced back big and vented their ire on the UST Growling Tigers with a 78-60 annihilation in the UAAP Season 85 men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday, November 23.
Carl Tamayo showed the way for UP with a near double-double of 19 points and 9 rebounds, while Cyril Gonzales, who was instrumental in the Fighting Maroons’ huge second-half rally, added 14 markers.
Malick Diouf posted a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds, while JD Cagulangan had an all-around outing of 8 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals for the top-seeded Fighting Maroons, who moved up to 11-2 and secured at least a playoff for a twice-to-beat Final Four bonus.
Coming off a tightly contested affair in the first half, where the cellar-dwelling Growling Tigers only trailed by 3 points, 34-37, the Fighting Maroons picked it up in the third period and extended their lead to 13, 52-39, off back-to-back layups by Gonzales with 3:16 to play in the quarter.
With UST still knocking on UP’s door at the start of the fourth frame, 49-59, the Fighting Maroons then made it rain from beyond the arc and opened the period on a sizzling 11-0 run, capped by a three-pointer by Gonzales to push their double-digit cushion even further to 21 points, 70-49, putting away the Growling Tigers for good with still 7:34 remaining on the game clock.
Nic Cabañero once again topscored for UST – which suffered its 11th straight defeat and dropped to 1-11 in the standings – with 14 points, along with 7 rebounds, while Adama Faye recorded his own double-double of 12 markers and 11 boards.
UP aims to end the elimination round on a high note when it faces the Ateneo Blue Eagles in a highly anticipated showdown with a lot at stake on Saturday, November 26 at 6:30 pm.
UST, meanwhile, takes on the FEU Tamaraws that same day at 1 pm.
The Scores
UP 78 – Tamayo 19, Gonzales 14, Diouf 10, Cagulangan 8, Lucero 6, Abadiano 4, Galinato 4, Spencer 3, Ramos 3, Calimag 3, Alarcon 2, Torculas 2, Lina 0, Eusebio 0, Andrews 0.
UST 60 – Cabanero 14, Faye 12, Calimag 7, Pangilinan 6, Manalang 6, Laure 4, Mantua 4, Manaytay 3, Magdangal 2, Garing 2, Herrera 0, Escobido 0, Gesalem 0.
Quarters: 15-16, 37-34, 59-49, 78-60.
– Rappler.com
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