By ADRIAN STEWART CO
The University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons emerged on top in the 2023 FilOil EcoOil Preseason Cup after a 67-76 beating of De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers in the one-game finals in San Juan City on Wednesday, June 21.
Mark Belmonte spearheaded the offense with 18 points to go with five rebounds, while fellow incoming rookie Francis Lopez added 16 markers as the Fighting Maroons bagged their first-ever FilOil crown.
Maodo Malick Diouf submitted double-double 10 points and 11 rebounds, while JD Cagulangan and Crispin John Cansino contributed 10 markers apiece for UP, which bounced back from a 90-83 loss to DLSU in the regular season.
Belmonte made his biggest mark in the telling 23-4 scoring run that broke a 22-all deadlock late in the first quarter and built a massive 45-26 advantage midway in the second quarter.
However, the Green Archers never gave up as they managed to cut the deficit to 73-82 with four minutes in the final quarter, but three free throws by Cansino widened the Fighting Maroons lead anew to 85-73.
“We have a lot of respect for La Salle, they’re a really strong team. Ang maganda, on our part, ‘yung team really prepared for this and, thankfully, it showed,” UP head coach Goldwyn Monteverde said.
Adding to the Fighting Maroons’ championship is third-year guard Harold Alarcon being named as the Most Valuable Player after averaging 12.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists in the pre-season tourney.
However, the Negros Occidental’s Silay City-native Alarcon said that the pre-season tournament crown has no bearing as they have to prepare for the upcoming UAAP season.
“Siguro ang masasabi ko lang po [there are] no expectations,” Alarcon, a former standout of Bacolod Tay Tung High School Thunderbolts, said.
“Kasi ‘yung UAAP, iba ‘yung ambience ng game kasi may mga scouting report na,” he added.
“As a player, hindi naman ako nape-pressure kasi ‘yung mindset ko is ‘yung team lang. Kung anong makakabuti sa team, kung anong maitutulong ko sa team namin, ‘yun lang ‘yung gagawin ko,” he added.
UP 87 — Belmonte 18, Lopez 16, Cagulangan 10, Diouf 10, Cansino 10, Alarcon 9, Abadiano 4, Briones 4, Alter 2, Torculas 2, Gagate 2, Felicilda 0, Torres 0.
LA SALLE 76 — Nelle 19, Nonoy 13, Policarpio 8, Quiambao 7, M. Phillips 7, Austria 7, Gollena 7, Abadam 4, Nwankwo 2, David 2, Escandor 0, Manuel 0, B. Phillips 0.
Quarterscores: 30-22, 54-45, 75-57, 87-76./ASC, WDJ