SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – After closing out last Saturday’s 2nd round opening day with a 76-58 blowout loss, the University of the Philippines Integrated School (UPIS) Junior Fighting Maroons started Wednesday’s games with a strong 91-87 upset over the 3rd-placer University of Santo Tomas (UST) Tiger Cubs in the FilOil Flying V Centre, Thursday, January 17.
While the Maroons already led by as many as 9 points over the squad of frontrunner MVP candidate CJ Cansino, the Cubs still closed out the first half with a 48-42 comeback lead. Turnovers to open the second half didn’t help out UP at all as they saw their deficit climb to as high as 15. At the end of the 3rd, UST was still up 11, 68-57.
Although UST committed less TOs than UP at the second half, they tossed 3 giveaways in a row to kick off the 4th quarter, which was enough to swing the momentum hard towards the Maroons. A one-man show by Cansino was not enough to stop the bleeding. With 27 seconds left in regulation, Rafael Labao pulled up his only trey – a dagger at that – to put the Maroons up for good and stun the contending Cubs.
Led by Labao’s 17 points, 6 out of 9 players fielded by UP scored in double-figures, including Joelo Tupaz’ 14-point, 11-rebound double-double and King Vergeire’s 13 points (4/6 triples, 1/2 free-throws) off the bench. Cansino meanwhile, had his customary double-double of 29 points and 18 boards for the Cubs, who have now lost 2 in a row to open the 2nd round.
Next up was an outright mismatch between defending champion Far Eastern University-Diliman (FEU-D) Baby Tamaraws and the University of the East (UE) Junior Warriors, where the champs decimated the (technically*) winless Warriors by 28, 91-63. UE actually led, 41-38, at the half but a 15-1 attack by FEU to open the 3rd quarter was the early nail in the coffin for UE. In a show of force, the Baby Tams outscored the Junior Warriors 53-22 in the second half and vastly outrebounded them, 72-31.
Reigning Finals Most Valuable Player L-Jay Gonzales paced the team as usual with 21 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals in just 26 minutes of action. Agem Miranda topscored for UE with a 19-point, 12-board double-double.
The 2nd-placer National University (NU) Bullpups welcomed the afternoon with an easy 85-67 victory over the slumping De La Salle Zobel (DLSZ) Junior Archers. The game was close only until the early part of the 2nd quarter, where DLSZ launched a 12-0 attack after being down 29-15. However, Season 79 finalist NU responded with a 13-4 run of their own to regain control by halftime, 42-33.
The Bullpups kept the pressure up all throughout the second half through patient and precise passes for open threes, led by Terrence Fortea who finished with 20 points off 5/9 shots from rainbow range. Rogil Carlos started out hot for the Archers with 12 markers at halftime, but only went 1/6 in the second half and ended with 15 points – still a team-high.
To close out the day, the undefeated Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) Blue Eaglets maintained the status quo for their campaign as they routed the Adamson University (AdU) Baby Falcons, 64-47.
For the entire game, the Eaglets led by 7-foot-1 unicorn Kai Sotto relentlessly trapped the Falcons on defense, sending the listless team to a horrible 20% shooting clip (15/74) and only 18% from three (6/32). Sotto tallied 5 of the team’s 8 blocks to go along with 9 points and 12 rebounds. Dave Ildefonso topscored for the Eaglets with 12 points and 8 boards.
Adamson starters Adrian Manlapaz, Andrey Doria, Joseph Prodigo and Jose Sabandal were held to a combined 3/38 clip from the field and 1/15 from downtown. Only Andrey’s brother Adam fared well against the stifling Ateneo defense, leading the Falcons with 12 points on 6/8 shooting.
The 2nd round will resume on Saturday, January 20, still at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
The Scores:
UPIS (91) – Labao, Raf. 17, Santiago 14, Tupaz 14, Vergeire 13, Labao, Ral. 13, Gregorio 10, Estrera 8, Villa-Real 2, Lopez 0.
UST (87) – Cansino 29, Dolendo 15, Palencia 12, Villapando 12, Lina 8, Manabat 4. Baquial 3, Relucio 2, Narvasa 2, Biag 0, Esplana 0, Anunciacion 0, Benzonan 0, Dela Cruz 0.
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FEU (91) – Gonzales 21, Sajonia 17, Alforque 12, Tolentino 10, Celso 9, Abarrientos 7, Boc 4, Mariano 4, Torres 3, Ona 2, Armendez 2, Bautista 0.
UE (63) – Miranda 19, Vinte 12, Dichoso 8, Dulalia 7, Policarpio 6, Angeles 3, Villarta 3, Lopez 3, Almacen 2, Tajonera 0.
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NU (85) – Fortea 20, Pangilinan 11, Oczon 10, Amsali 10, Manalang 9, Pradella 6, Gonzales 4, Malonzo 4, Minerva 4, Javillonar 3, Felisida 2, Dayrit 2, Coyoca 0, Vinoya 0.
DLSZ (67) – Carlos 15, Cortez 12, Calimag 9, Escandor 7, Santos 5, Consejo 5, Bonalos 5, Chavez 3, Buncayo 3, Udal 3, Terrado 0, Pascual 0, Barcuma 0, Vesagas 0, Favis 0.
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ADMU (64) – Ildefonso 12, Credo 11, Manuel 10, Sotto 9, Belangel 7, Chiu 5, Escalona 4, Jaymalin 3, Lopa 2, David 1, Santos 0, Tanedo 0, Diaz 0, Gusi 0.
AdU (47) – Doria, Ad. 12, Baculio 11, Manlapaz 5, Perez 4, Doria, An. 3, Canoy 3, Engbino 3, Hanapi 3, Prodigo 2, Sabandal 1, Santos P. 0, Sevilla 0, Padilla, O. 0, Santos R. 0, Padilla A. 0.
Season 80 Standings (as of Jan. 17, 2018)
School Win-Loss Record
ADMU 9-0
NU 7-2*
UST 5-4
FEU-D 5-4
AdU 4-5
DLSZ 3-6
UPIS 2-7
UE 1-8*
*Note: NU’s first-round win over UE was forfeited due to a player ineligibility violation.
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