The University of the Philippines (UP) rolled to its fourth straight win at the expense of Far Eastern University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 men’s basketball at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday. Janjan Felicilda scored 17 points, four rebounds and two assists in leading the Fighting Maroons to an 80-76 overtime win. CJ Cansino added 14 points, Malick Diouf had 11 points and 20 rebounds, and Francis Lopez chipped in nine points, 11 rebounds and two steals. “As Coach Gold always says, as the season progresses every game is a chance for us to improve… Even though we had 21 turnovers, it was just one of those games where we were fortunate that FEU was only able to convert 13 of them,” UP assistant coach Christian Luanzon said. A basket by LJ Gonzales gave FEU a 73-71 lead in the extra period but UP scored six straight points for a 77-73 count, 1:42 left. Jorick Bautista fired his sixth triple with 30.3 seconds remaining to put FEU within 76-77. Cansino split his charities and Felicilda scored on a layup to preserve the win. “Sabi nga sa amin palagi ni Coach Gold, kumbaga dapat ready kami sa anumang sitwasyon mahirap o madali, dapat malagpasan namin yung mga challenges na ‘yun (Coach Gold always tells us that we should be ready for any situation, difficult or easy, we should overcome those challenges),” Felicilda said. Bautista had 26 points while Gonzales contributed 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals for the Tamaraws, who are winless in four outings. In the women’s division, National University defeated the University of Santo Tomas, 76-64, at the Adamson University Gym. Karl Pingol had 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Joinaba Konateh added 12 points and nine rebounds as the Lady Bulldogs tied the Growling Tigresses at 3-1. “We just told the girls to just learn from the UP game and move forward and focus our attention on UST. I thought we did a great job on the preparation and on the commitment of the players to do the game plan to the letter. Proud of these girls for coming back after a loss,’ NU coach Aris Dimaunahan said. In the other game, Kent Pastrana led UST with 18 points, followed by Tantoy Ferrer with 17 points and six rebounds, while Tacky Tacatac had 15 points and four assists. In the other game, De La Salle University downed Adamson University, 63-55. Lee Sario scored 20 points for the Lady Archers, who ended their three-game losing streak.
Source: Philippines News Agency