By ADRIAN STEWART CO
The University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons turned things around in the second half to oust the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers, 78-69, in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament Final Four at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday, November 30.
Negrense Harold Alarcon spearheaded the offense with 16 points, with 14 coming in the last two quarters, as the Fighting Maroons moved on to the best-of-three finals for the fourth straight season.
Francis Lopez also ended up with 16 markers, while Negrense Reyland Torres contributed a season-high of 13 markers for the Fighting Maroons, which finished runner-up in the last two UAAP seasons.
Down 34-38 early in the third quarter, the Fighting Maroons rode on the hot hands of Torres and inside conversions from Quentin Millora-Brown and JD Cagulangan to take a 55-44 advantage.
The Growling Tigers kept the match close in the fourth quarter at 61-66 after a triple by Kyle Paranada, but the Fighting Maroons responded with connections from Alarcon, Millora-Brown, Paranada, and Lopez to put the game away.
“For us naman, we expected a tough fight against UST, the way they leveled up their program this season. As the season progresses, talagang umaangat sila,” UP head coach Goldwyn Monteverde said after the game.
“On our end, ang importante sa amin is the way we responded in the second half by moving the ball well and trusting each other, and then we got the momentum,” he added.
Paranada, Angelo Crisostomo and Nicael Cabanero led the Growling Tigers with 12 points apiece, while Christian Manaytay played his final collegiate game with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Meanwhile, the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers walloped the Adamson University Falcons, 70-55, to reach the championship round.
Kevin Quiambao and Joshua David tallied 14 and 11, respectively, to lead DLSU.
The championship rematch between the Fighting Maroons and the Green Archers will begin at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on December 8./ASC, WDJ