Rampaging title holder University of the Philippines clipped Ateneo’s perfect run, 83-69, to catch up with the leaders after a poor start in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball yesterday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Fighting Maroons shattered the gates wide open in the second half to run away from a slim 40-38 cushion at the turn, hitting two birds with one stone by notching their third win in a row and snapping the Blue Eagles’ torrid 4-0 start.
At 3-2, UP climbed from the cellar to solo fourth behind Santo Tomas (3-1) with Ateneo and first-game winner National U sharing the leaderboard. Up next for UP is Far Eastern U (1-3) Sunday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
Francis Nnoruka feasted on the Blue Eagles with a career-high 28 points built on a 9-of-13 clip alongside nine rebounds, four steals and a block while Noy Remogat added 20 points on four triples before his ejection due to an unsportsmanlike foul late in the blowout affair.
Harold Alarcon was also instrumental for the Maroons, scoring 13 of UP’s 22 points in the second quarter, where they launched a tone-setting 15-3 rally to overturn a 23-30 deficit.
It was all UP from there.
Earlier, National U clawed back from 11 points down to scrape past Adamson, 56-54.
The Bulldogs stepped up in the last five minutes, launching a 15-2 finishing kick to erase a 41-52 deficit for a gutsy rebound from an endgame meltdown versus the Maroons.