University of the Philippines’ Francis Nnoruka said sticking to the system played key role in the Fighting Maroons’ latest victory in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament.
UP escaped a nothing-to-lose University of the East side, 70-61, on Saturday to bolster its bid for a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four.
‘It was a huge win for us and I’m excited that we played our role well on the floor,’ Nnoruka said. ‘We played within the system, passed the ball and got stops.’
Nnoruka top scored for UP while registering a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds with four assists, four blocks and an assist.
The foreign student-athlete’s stellar outing helped the Maroons keep their spot as the second seed with an 8-3 record.
However, he wasn’t the lone difference maker for UP. Nnoruka also gave credit to his teammates for playing well on both ends of the floor.
‘We had a lot of transition offense to take advantage of the whole game and get the win at the end of it all,’ he said.
UP tallied 12 steals and seven blocks to force the Red Warriors to 20 team turnovers.
The Maroons’ defense also locked down UE, which was held to 29.7 percent field goal shooting clip.
UP takes on Adamson next on Sunday at Araneta Coliseum.