We’ll be going down the wire again in the UAAP Season 88 Men’s Basketball Finals.
And we will go the distance.
With their backs against the wall, University of the Philippines showed championship composure, turning back the DLSU Green Archers in Game 2 to force a winner-takes-all match in the UAAP Season 88 Men’s Basketball Finals.
Relying on a more balanced attack, State U overcame DLSU, 66-63, in another dogfight before a sellout crowd at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay on Sunday.
Captain Gerry Abadiano scored six of his 17 points in the final two minutes, hitting his patented mid-range jumpers to ice the contest for State U. Joining him were Francis Nnoruka with 13 points and 13 rebounds, along with Rey Remogat with 12 points, as Game 1 star Harold Alarcon was limited to just five points on 1-of-10 shooting.
Gani Stevens also added eight points and nine rebounds, while second-year forward Jacob Bayla finished with six points and five boards in the winning effort. More than the numbers, Bayla also embraced the challenge of guarding Jacob Cortez, who settled for 16 points on a paltry 6-for-15 shooting clip.
UP’s first Game 2 win since…
Up until today, UP had struggled to win Game 2 of the UAAP finals in head coach Goldwin Monteverde’s era. Just last year, they had come close to doing so, only for then-MVP Kevin Quiambao to punch in two triples late as the Green Archers pumped in life to their fading title defense hopes.
This time, placed in unfamiliar territory, it was State U who successfully forced a Game 3, which also marked their first Game 2 win under the Monteverde era.
“We just lived to fight another day. In Coach Gold’s era, I believe this is our first win sa Game 2 but you know in a best-of-three series, when you lose Game 1, obviously the more desperate team has to be the one that’s down 0-1 and I thought tonight we showed that,” assistant coach Christian Luanzon said post-game.
Still, their win didn’t come easy, especially with Sunday’s win shaping up to be another low-scoring classic — only for captain Abadiano to take over late.
With 2:30 left in regulation, Abadiano fired the first of three-straight mid-range jumpers, which broke a 59-all deadlock in favor of State U.
That patented middy continued to give the Fighting Maroons the cushion that they needed, with Abadiano hitting a tough free-throw line jumper after Jacob Cortez’s split from the free-throw line.
The biggest of them all came with 1:02 seconds left in regulation, with Abadiano giving the Fighting Maroons a 65-62 advantage after an acrobatic layup by Vhoris Marasigan.
“Di ko naman ineexpect ‘yung ganong pangyayari. Naglaro lang kami as a team, and siguro sa akin, kung ano lang binigay ng depensa sa akin, kinukuha ko lang. Siguro mas gutom kami manalo ng Game 2 lalo talo kami noong Game 1 and personally last year ko din, so ayoko naman na last year ko, hindi ko ibibigay ‘yung pinaka-best namin,” Abadiano said.
DLSU, though, had one more chance to seal the title series. A technical free-throw by Cortez allowed the Archers to inch closer, 65-63, which was followed by a block by Pablo on Abadiano that bounced off Bayla’s arm.
It was here that UP’s championship composure shone brightly. If Abadiano placed the finishing touches on offense, then it was Bayla’s defense on Cortez that forced him to make an emergency pass to Vhoris Marasigan, whose late triple rimmed out with 5.5 seconds left.
And now, we’re headed into all-familiar territory — a winner-takes-all Game 3 this Wednesday, December 14, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
Banner images by Kieran Punay/KLIQ Inc.