By CARLO ANOLIN
Zavier Lucero and Joel Cagulangan provided the much-needed spark in the payoff period as University of the Philippines outlasted La Salle, 61-59, to keep its winning streak going in the UAAP Season 84 Thursday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Lucero and Cagulangan joined forces down the stretch, making key baskets to make up for their error-plagued outing as the Fighting Maroons took solo second with a 5-1 record.
Lucero, a former Cal State Maritime Academy standout, had a stellar performance of 21 points on a 9-of-15 shooting, including a go-ahead triple to highlight a solid fourth quarter performance that saw him explode for 11 points.
Tied at 59-all, Lucero secured an offensive rebound en route to a putback basket which pretty much sealed the deal for UP.
The Green Archers had their chances in the last 10 seconds but the Maroons had fouls to give and played time at their hands.
On La Salle’s last possession and with 3.8 ticks left, Michael Phillips tried to do the impossible but was heavily contested in the paint and UP got away with the win.
Quick as a cat, Lucero also collared 14 boards while Cagulangan finished with five points, including a booming three-point shot that knotted the count at 54-all, seven assists and five rebounds.
Typifying UP’s well-balanced attack was that four other players scored seven points or more with star rookie Carl Tamayo posting nine points and 11 rebounds.
CJ Cansino delivered 9 points and eight rebounds, James Spencer had seven points and four rebounds, and Malick Diouf added seven points and seven rebounds.
“I felt halos buong game, maybe first hanggang third quarter, we struggled offensively,” said UP head coach Goldwin Monteverde. “Good thing, especially in the fourth quarter, talagang nag step up ang defense namin. I thought Carl played really good defense against [Justine] Baltazar in the fourth.”
Justine Baltazar led the Green Archers, who slipped to a 4-2 record, with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Evan Nelle chipped in 13 points. Phillips had nine points and eight rebounds while Mark Nonoy also added nine points.
The scores:
UP 61 ‒ Lucero 21, Tamayo 9, Cansino 9, Spencer 7, Diouf 7, Cagulangan 5, Fortea 3, Rivero 0, Alarcon 0, Abadiano 0.
LA SALLE 59 ‒ Baltazar 13, Nelle 13, M. Phillips 9, Nonoy 9, Winston 7, Lojera 3, Galman 3, Nwankwo 2, Austria 0, B. Phillips 0, Cuajao 0.
Quarters: 17-17, 32-35, 43-48, 61-59.
