The University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons are on a roll, while the University of the East Warriors kept their Final Four chances alive on Wednesday in the 85th University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Carl Tamayo struck hard in the third period as the Fighting Maroons brought down the injury-stricken Adamson Falcons, 91-70, while Calvin Payawal and Luis Villegas made 17 and 16 points, respectively for the UE Warriors in their 81-51 thumping of the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers.
The 21-year-old Tamayo led the Fighting Maroons’ offense in the opening minutes of the second half, hitting nine of 18 points as UP broke the game wide open and moved ahead in the solo lead with its five-game winning streak.
Malick Diouf showed the way for the Fighting Maroons with a career-high 20 points and eight rebounds as UP pushed itself further ahead in the team standings with its 8-1 win-loss record.
UP unleashed a decisive 12-2 blast to break away from a 50-47 edge and gain a 13-point spread, 62-49, with 4:27 left off Tamayo’s triple.
One of the Falcons’ defenders Vince Magbuhos left in the final 3:41 of the third with a hurt right ankle, after Adamson managed to strike back off Cedrick Manzano’s driving shot, 51-62.
“I think they made better decisions in the third. And this led to improvements in our offense,” said UP coach Goldwin Monteverde, as UP boosted its chances of getting a twice-to-beat incentive in the Final Four.
Jerom Lastimosa banged in 19 points for the Falcons, but he became the second Adamson player to leave on an injury when he twisted his right ankle after making a layup in the 5:42 mark of the fourth and then stepping on the foot of Joel Cagulangan following a bad landing.
As Lastimosa was carried out of the court, UP continued with its fluid offense, with Cagulangan handing the Maroons grabbed a 69-57 lead with his trey with 38 ticks remaining.
The Falcons, with Manzano shooting nine points, slipped behind at 3-5.
Meanwhile, the Red Warriors, who hiked their record at fourth spot (4-5) after posting the season’s biggest winning margin, limited UST to just two out of 16 field goal attempts to coast to a 45-23 halftime lead.
Villegas scored nine points in the first period as the UE Warriors quickly took control with a 25-14 edge.
The win put UE within reach of its first Final Four appearance in 13 years when it made the finals against Ateneo back in 2009.
“It was our game plan not to involve UST. They’re a scary team. Their morale is down. I told the boys not to make this game close,” said Warriors’ coach Jack Santiago.