STEPPING UP
There was a point in the game where it didn’t feel like it was a University of the Philippines-University of Santo Tomas match anymore.
It felt like Harold Alarcon vs the Tigers.
The defending champions leaned on their graduating guard’s heroics to claw out a nerve-wracking 89-88 win over UST in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.
For much of the night, UP played catch-up, trailing by as many as 15 in the first half. But when it mattered most, Alarcon delivered.
“We’re prepared for situations like those,” Alarcon said after finishing with 22 points, five rebounds, and four assists. “We’ve had these experiences to help us in future games. When they come again, we’ll know what to do.”
No doubt, the UP veteran knew what to do—and when exactly to do it.
24 missed free throws
After a tough finish by UST big man Collins Akowe with under two minutes left, the game belonged to Alarcon. The cat-quick guard answered with seven straight points—first a bucket in transition, then calmly sinking two free throws, and finally, burying a smooth midrange jumper at the 1:05 mark to push the Fighting Maroons ahead, 87-86.
“For me, having started slow earlier and being able to come back before the end of the first half was good,” said UP coach Goldwin Monteverde. “Towards that late stretch, we had a lot of fouls but in these kinds of games, that’s expected.”
Those fouls gave UST a whopping 52 free throws. Unfortunately for the Tigers, in a game decided by the slimmest of margins, they missed 24 freebies.
UP’s grind-it-out win moved the defending champions to 7-3, just behind league leader National U (8-2). It was the Maroons’ seventh win in eight games, erasing what seemed like a worrying 0-2 start to the season.
Helping Alarcon carry the load were Rey Remogat and Migs Yniguez, who added 19 and 11 points, respectively. UP also turned the tide in the third quarter, outscoring UST 23-16 to erase the early deficit.
UST, meanwhile, fell to 5-5 despite a monster 26-point, 16-rebound effort from Akowe. Nic Cabañero added 18 points, but the Tigers came up short in another close finish.
It was the second one-point loss in the last three games for UST, which got off to a 4-0 start in the season but has dropped four of its last five.
Earlier, Ateneo broke its five-game losing slump by eliminating University of the East, 78-74.
The Blue Eagles improved to a 5-5 record and kept the Red Warriors winless after 10 games.
Kymani Ladi finished with 16 points, while the returning Divine Adili dropped a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Precious Momowei registered 19 points and 18 rebounds while Wello Lingolingo, who returned after a three-game suspension, finished with 19 points.
