AFTER a successful opening ceremony, University of the Philippines (UP) completed a double celebration on Saturday after bagging its first opening-game victory in four years.
The Fighting Maroons showed why they are dead serious of earning a Final Four trip after outlasting University of the East (UE), 62-55, at the start of Season 78 University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The season’s host banked on Gelo Vito’s hot hands in the fourth quarter then survived the Red Warriors’ last-ditch run to preserve the victory and give rookie Coach Rensy Bajar a sizzling debut in the league.
“The players believed that they can win and they are winners,” said Bajar, whose win against UE already matched the school’s campaign last season of one victory against 13 defeats under Rey Madrid.
“Down the stretch, I told them they [Red Warriors] will make a run and they just keep on believing on winning this game,” he added.
And Vito exemplified the school’s confidence in the payoff period with three clutch three-pointers that doused the rally of UE, which stormed back from a 14-point deficit.
Vito, a sophomore big man majoring in Sports Science, was the lone Fighting Maroon in double figures with 11 points, nine came in a crucial stretch of the fourth period and all behind the rainbow territory.
“I just take the shots when I’m open,” said the southpaw Vito, who played for La Salle Greenhills in high school. “I thank the coaching staff and my teammates for trusting me.”
The Diliman-based team controlled majority of the game but the rookie-laden Red Warriors kept on coming back and Chris Javier’s back-to-back baskets put them within four, 41-45, with seven minutes left in the game.
Vito uncorked his first triple at the top of the key that sparked a 9-2 swing he capped with a three-pointer, which was actually a four-point play—he missed the bonus free throw to give University of the Philippines a 56-43 separation with 4:37 remaining. UE made another last push with rookie Edison Batiller leading the in a 13-3 exchange to trim the lead to 55-59, 20.8 ticks left.
But it was too late for the Red Warriors, as time was not on their side and UP hit three more free throws to seal its first win in an opening day for the first time since beating the same team, 69-61, in 2011.
Batiller led all scorers with 17 points, while Javier added 10. Javier was ejected late in the game for landing an elbow on Jerson Prado resulting to a disqualifying foul.
Bajar, a seven-year pro in the Philippine Basketball Association, credited the team’s defense despite a slow start.
“Even though we have opening-game jitters, our defense was consistent today. We limited UE to just seven points in the first quarter and 55 in the game. UE is a transition team and that’s an achievement for us,” Bajar said.
UP managed to get the victory despite committing 30 turnovers. The Red Warriors also had their share of errors with 25, but they shot poorly from the field (21-of-68).
Image credits: Kevin de la Cruz