Alarcon powers through as UP halts NU skid
The University of the Philippines showed its trademark grit on Saturday—none more than Harold Alarcon.
Playing under the weather, Alarcon powered through sickness to help the Fighting Maroons gut out a 66–59 victory over National University at the Quadricentennial Pavilion, handing the Bulldogs their first loss of UAAP Season 88.
It wasn’t Alarcon’s scoring that stood out—he had only eight points—but he was all over the court during his short stints, finishing with four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
“I want to commend Harold because I know he only had a few points, but he played 20 minutes and every time he had the ball, he was just big time,” said assistant coach Christian Luanzon. “For him to fight through what he was feeling, that was big for us.”
After trailing by one at the end of the third, the Maroons clamped down on defense, holding NU to just 10 points in the final quarter. UP’s communication and collective effort on switches and coverages proved decisive.
“What’s important was that everyone was involved in communication,” Luanzon added. “Everybody was on the same page.”
Gani Stevens and Francis Nnoruka anchored the attack with 10 and 14 points, respectively, but Stevens said Alarcon’s toughness set the tone.
“Harold’s one of the veterans in our team and he came through for us even if he was sick,” Stevens said.
