Harold vows to give his all in final stand with UP
University of the Philippines could not have picked a better way to get back to the win column in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament.
The Maroons brought down the league-leading National U Bulldogs, 78-74, on Wednesday night at Mall of Asia Arena, wasting no time bouncing back after watching a four-game winning streak snapped at the end of the first round.
State U found a motivated leader to spark the victory that opened its second round.
“I need to play like my life depends on it because this is my last second round in the UAAP and this is my last year as well,” senior guard Harold Alarcon said.
Alarcon finished with a season-high 24 points with four assists, three rebounds and a steal as UP opened the game strong before fending off repeated rallies by the Bulldogs.
“I have to give it to NU as always, there’s a reason why they’re the number one team in the league,” UP assistant coach Christian Luanzon said after the defending champions logged their fifth win in eight games.
UP went on a 22-6 start in the first quarter, but that lead dwindled with each passing quarter.
Two Reys
“There’s no safe lead here and they proved it [today], so it’s a good thing we were able to hold our own,” Luanzon said.
Alarcon had a lot of help in making sure the Maroons held their own. UP’s two Reys, Remogat and Torres, finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively, in the win.
Fresh off a 72-69 heartbreaker at the hands of La Salle, the Fighting Maroons are now solo third after dropping the Bulldogs to a 6-2 record. Idle University of Santo Tomas is currently in second with a 5-2 slate.
NU has reason to be alarmed: The team’s two losses were both against UP.
The Maroons led by as many as 18 points, but the Bulldogs managed to slash that deficit down to three, 69-66, with 2:35 left in the fourth period.
Alarcon joined hands with Gani Stevens in a 5-0 response that gave UP a 74-66 lead with 50 seconds remaining.
Jake Figueroa did what he could, dropping a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds, could not help NU complete the comeback. Paul Francisco, who paced NU in an overtime win over Ateneo a few days back, finished with 13 points, missing five of his nine shots from the field.
UP will be taking on the streaky Far Eastern University (3-5) on Sunday at UST’s Quadricentennial Pavilion, while National U takes on the Blue Eagles anew on the same day.
