By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Negrense Harold Alarcon struggled with his shots as the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons opened the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball with a 77-61 rout of the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday night, September 7.

The Negros Occidental’s Silay City-native guard finished with six points, making just two of his eight field goal attempts, to go with three rebounds and three assists in 19 minutes of action for UP.

JD Cagulangan had a near triple-double showing of 17 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds to go with two steals as the Fighting Maroons opened their revenge season on a winning note.

Francis Lopez came off the bench to deliver 14 points, with eight coming from the free throw area, while Quentin Millora-Brown hauled 17 rebounds to go with seven points for the Fighting Maroons.

Leading by as many as 18 points in the third quarter, the Fighting Maroons were surprised by a huge run by the Blue Eagles in the fourth quarter that cut their lead to eight points.

Cagulangan responded with a buzzer-beating two-pointer followed by a three-point play from Lopez and another layup from Cagulangan to restore a double-digit edge with more than a minute left.

“We did not start the game the way we [wanted] to start but, fortunately, we gained our confidence in the second half to take this opening day win,” UP head coach Goldwyn Monteverde said.

Jared Bahay made his UAAP debut with 13 points, Joshua Lazaro posted a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Shawn Tuano contributed 11 points for the Blue Eagles./ASC, WDJ

UP 77 — Cagulangan 17, Lopez 14, Fortea 8, Millora-Brown 7, Bayla 7, Ududo 7, Alarcon 6, Abadiano 5, Belmonte 2, Torres 0, Briones 0, Stevens 0, Alter 0, Felicilda 0.

ATENEO 61 — Bahay 13, Lazaro 11, Tuano 11, Espina 7, Espinosa 4, Balogun 4, Koon 3, Gamber 3, Porter 3, Bongo 2, Quitevis 0, Edu 0, Ong 0.

Quarterscores: 17-16, 40-30, 58-45, 77-61.