Maroons put three-game streak on the line against Tigers
University of the Philippines seeks a repeat over a University of Santo Tomas side that could be coming in at full force for their rematch on Wednesday as second-round action in Season 89 of the UAAP men’s basketball tournament starts at Mall of Asia Arena.
Hot on a three-game winning streak, the Fighting Maroons opened their campaign with a 92-85 win over the Growling Tigers as Gelo Crisostomo, one of the big guns of coach Pido Jarencio at Santo Tomas, was limited to just nine minutes because of a bone contusion injury.
Crisostomo has declared his readiness to return and help. It just all depends on what the coaching staff decides in their 5 p.m. clash.
“I’ve been ready to play for a while now, but the coaches told me to focus on rehab and rest,” Crisostomo, who has played just two games this season, told the Inquirer after UST’s win over Ateneo at its home court on Saturday. “Hopefully, I finish the second round without any pain.
“I’m super excited to play,” he continued, barring that he could’ve suited up against the Blue Eagles, whom they handily beat, 80-68.
As the Fighting Maroons aim for a sixth straight Final Four berth, UP stalwart James Payosing stressed the importance of maintaining their unity and focus at this crucial stage of the season.
“Those are the most important things,” Payosing said in Filipino. “We need to play as one solid team all the time, support each other all the time. It won’t be easy; that’s why we are working hard at it in practice.”
UP coach Goldwin Monteverde is expecting the roadblocks to be tougher, starting with their match against UST, which ended the opening round with back-to-back wins.
“I guess, as we go along the season, we’ll see these kinds of challenges more,” Monteverde said.
