Photo by John Reczon Calay
■ Hans Christian Marin
The UP Fighting Maroon’s fourth win may have kept their Final Four hopes alive and secured the team’s most number of victories since 2006, but it signified a lot more to the UP community.
In an interview with the Collegian, team captain Jett Manuel said they dedicate their fourth win to the national minorities who gathered at the Diliman campus for a two-week caravan dubbed “Lakbayan” and the UP Pep Squad, who recently opted not to join the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Cheerdance Competition because of unresolved issues in their third-place finish last year.
The 3,000 Lumads and 500 natives from Cordillera, Timog Luzon, Mindanao, and other parts of the country travelled to Manila to fight for their rights to their inherited lands and self-determination.
“I dedicate this win to the UP community and all that we’re fighting for. As part of the community, we [UP MBT] are supporting these [national minority] issues,” said Manuel. “We’re always supporting the UP Pep Squad. They’ve been cheering for us kahit na natatalo kami, win or lose, they’re always there,” added Manuel.
Road to final four
The resilient Fighting Maroons tamed the struggling National University (NU) Bulldogs to avenge their first round blowout loss and keep their final four dreams alive, 71-66, in the second round of the 79th season of UAAP men’s basketball tourney, October 26 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Grabbing their most number of wins in a decade, UP boosted their final four bid tying NU at 4-8 and moving just two games behind fourth-seed Adamson Falcons (5-5). Maroons also sent the Bulldogs to their six straight loss.
UP started out flat in the first quarter as they were down by as much as 13 at 8-21 with NU’s high-tempo offense, but center Gelo Vito and guard Paul Desiderio converted back-to-back inside layups to cut the lead to 9 at the end of the canto, 12-21.
Guard Dave Moralde’s instant drive to the basket in the first minute of second quarter proved to awaken the spirit of Fighting Maroons as the team’s jumpers keep on falling to end the first half with an 8-0 run, capped off by a buzzer-beating trey by guard Felixberto Jaboneta, 29-31.
Fresh after a spectacular hip-hop routine by the UP Pep Squad, Manuel and Vito instantly scored 5 points to give the UP its first lead, 34-31. Guard Javier Gomez De Liano provided a much-needed spark off the bench to reign supreme after the back-and-forth lead exchanges in the third quarter, 45-41.
Since then, Maroons never looked back led by Gomez De Liano who showcased his lightning speed in fastbreaks in the fourth quarter where he scored nine points. The rest of the team also maintained their composure, knocking down their nerve-wrecking free-throws and staving off a 9-2 late rally from the Bulldogs to pull off their fourth win, 71-66.
Manuel lead all scorers with 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists while Vito chipped in 15 points and 4 rebounds, Gomez de Liano with 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists, and Desiderio with a monster double-double performance of 11 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 assists. UP knocked down a sizzling rate of 20 of 23 or 86.96 percent of their free throw shots, where most came at the last quarter.
“It wasn’t the way we would have wanted to end the game but we can’t be choosers. I think if we weren’t able to get some splendid games from Gelo, Jett and Javi, we would have folded in the end,” said Maroons coach Bo Perasol.
The Maroons will gun for their fifth win as they face University of the Santo Tomas Growling Tigers (3-8) on Sunday, November 6, 4:00 PM at Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan. ■
QUARTERSCORES: 12-21, 29-31, 45-41, 71-66
UP 71 – Manuel 19, Vito 15, Gomez de Liaño 13, Desiderio 11, Moralde 6, Jaboneta 3, Dario 2, Webb 2
NU 66 – Alejandro 23, Salem 12, Diputado J. 7, Pate 5, Morido 4, Gallego 4, Salim 3, Diputado M. 3, Go 3, Aroga 2
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