By Vivem Soriano
Eagle News Service
The University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons needed to win just to even have a glimmer of hope to force a playoff game for a Final Four spot. And oh boy did they come out with all guns blazing.
Paul Desiderio lit up for 30 points as the former perennial cellar-dwellers UP Fighting Maroons torched the National University Bulldogs 106-81.
With both teams needing to win just to even have a chance to force a playoff game against Far Eastern University, UP came out of the gates firing from all cylinders.
Jun Manzo opened the scoring festivities for the Maroons with a 3-point play. The NU Bulldogs answered quickly and even took a brief 7-5 lead.
But King Maroon Paul Desiderio suddenly caught fire and played like a man possessed, scoring 11 to lead the rest of the UP squad to a blitzing 34-21 lead to end the 1st quarter.
It was back-and-forth action during the 2nd quarter, with the NU Bulldogs answering every run by the Maroons.
NU center Issa Gaye scored 8 in the quarter but UP held on to 58-45 halftime edge.
But the Fighting Maroons then broke the game wide open in the pivotal 3rd quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 26-15 as UP never looked back and even led by as much as 24 during the quarter.
Super rookie Juan Gomez de Liaño punctuated UP’s continued dominance in the 4th quarter with a highlight breakaway dunk that sent the predominatly State U crowd into a frenzy.
NU forced multiple turnovers and made numerous runs during the 4th quarter but UP held on and prevented another occurence of their now infamous final quarter meltdowns, forcing defensive stops and scoring clutch baskets down the stretch.
It was a total team effort for the Maroons. Besides Desiderio’s 30-point explosion, rookie Gomez de Liaño added 22 points with 13 rebounds while his older brother Javi contributed 17 points and 10 boards.
UP point guard Manzo scored 14 points and center Ibra Quattara had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, 10 coming off the offensive end.
Meanwhile, Gaye led the NU Bulldogs with 25 points and 10 rebounds while Jayjay Alejandro scored 16 points and dished out 8 assists in his last game for NU.
UP, now sitting at 6-8, will need the Adamson Falcons, who are already locked at 3rd in the standings, to beat the FEU Tamaraws in the second game of today’s doubleheader to force a do-or-die playoff game on Wednesday for the last Final Four berth.
However, if FEU wins, UP’s big win over NU will prove meaningless as the Tamaraws will finish with a 7-7 card and will march forward to the Final Four.
The NU Bulldogs meanwhile finishes Season 80 with a 5-9 card, good for sixth place.