By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Negrense Harold Alarcon came alive in the fourth quarter to propel the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons to a 66-59 victory over the National University (NU) Bulldogs in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Quadricentennial Pavilion on Saturday night, October 4.

Scoreless through the first three periods, the Negros Occidental’s Silay City native Alarcon poured in all eight of his points in the final frame, sparking UP’s decisive run that gave them a 60-52 cushion.

The former NU Nazareth School Bullpups standout also anchored the Fighting Maroons’ defense, limiting the Bulldogs to just two makes on 13 field goal attempts in the payoff quarter.

Francis Nnoruka led the Fighting Maroons with 14 points.

Isagani Stevens added 10 as the defending champions notched their second straight win to improve to 2-2.

On the other end, Steve Nash Enriquez paced NU with 16 points, while Gelo Santiago chipped in 10.

The Bulldogs suffered their first loss of the season, falling to 3-1.

Jake Figueroa and Omar John struggled to contribute offensively, held to just nine and four points, respectively, as UP’s defense clamped down on NU’s usual scorers.

Meanwhile, the UST Growling Tigers (3-1) returned to the winning track with a commanding 111-99 victory over the University of the East Red Warriors (0-4).

Clinging to a slim 59-55 lead at halftime, the Growling Tigers erupted in the third quarter behind Nicael Cabañero, Collins Akowe and Rence Padrigao to build an 83-67 cushion.

Coach Alfredo “Pido” Jarencio’s squad then pulled away in the fourth period with contributions from Amiel Acido and Mark Llemit to secure the double-digit win.

Cabañero led UST with 22 points, while Padrigao and Akowe chipped in 18 apiece.

Acido and Llemit added 11 points each to cap the balanced scoring effort./ASC, WDJ