Fresh recruits fuel Maroons’ second straight victory
University of the Philippines didn’t get to showcase its new recruits when it opened its UAAP Season 89 men’s basketball campaign with a victory.
Veejay Pre and James Payosing made sure they’d be seen this time.
Pre, the transferee from Far Eastern U and Payosing, the NCAA’s Season 99 Finals MVP, keyed UP’s second straight victory, a 94-75 rout of Ateneo on Saturday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Payosing led the Maroons with 17 points while Pre finished with 14 points and nine rebounds against the Eagles. The two were held to single digits in UP’s first win of the season against University of Santo Tomas.
“I did my role, whether it was to score or provide energy [to the team],” Payosing said, “[Whatever it takes], as long as we win, I’ll do it.”
“I’m grateful that I’m under coach Gold (Monteverde); he’s been so patient with me and all the others who [play for] UP.”
The two Diliman newcomers put on a show to complement the strong performance by the Maroons, who limited the Eagles to just 10 points in the third period.
Francis Nnoruka punched in 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Rey Remogat added 14 points built around three triples.
Jared Bahay led Ateneo with 17 points while super rookie Kieffer Alas cooled off a bit in his second game, finishing with 13. Alas had 24 points in his UAAP seniors debut, which resulted in a huge Ateneo victory over University of the East.
Earlier, National U crushed UE, 76-56.
But NU coach Jeff Napa hopes his wards will learn to play more consistently through 40 minutes.
“In the third quarter, they played [like they were] content because we led big. We need to change that [behavior],” he said.
NU faces UP in its next game and Napa feels any slowdown from his team, no matter how brief, will spell doom for the Bulldogs when they battle the Maroons next weekend at Mall of Asia Arena.
“It’s hard to give an opponent like them (UP) some opportunities, especially if they get their momentum,” Napa said. “We need to address our problems so that the game on Saturday goes in our favor.”
Reinhard Jumamoy registered 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal for NU while Mo Diassana had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Kenshin Padrones also chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds to help the Bulldogs improve to 1-1.
Olamilekan Ajani’s double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds went for naught as the Red Warriors dropped their second straight game.
