University of the Philippines averted a fourth quarter meltdown to turn back University of the East, 81-66, in the UAAP Season 84 men's basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Saturday, April 2.
The Fighting Maroons saw their 30-point lead trimmed down to 11, 73-62, after the Red Warriors unloaded a 17-2 run engineered by Kyle Paranada and Clint Escamis with less than five minutes to play.
Escamis and Paranada missed costly shots before Nico, brother of Kyle, stepped out of bounds off an inbound pass in the waning seconds which spelled doom for UE's comeback.
UP big man Malick Diouf, who hammered down seven points , six rebounds, and three assists, put the nail in the coffin by sinking a pair of free throws and scoring a putback basket off a Ricci Rivero miss as the Fighting Maroons improved to a 3-1 record.
"Kung titignan mo 'yong first game, we moved the ball better today," said UP coach Goldwin Monteverde. "As a team, nag-i-improve kami and we just have to be consistent."
Zavier Lucero led UP with 14 points on 3-of-4 shooting including eight free throws and six rebounds.
Rivero posted 14 points, three rebounds, and three steals while CJ Cansino added 10 for the Maroons.
Cansino, who scored all of his points in the first half, set the pace for UP before leading by as many as 30 points, 65-35, in the third quarter.
Escamis paced UE, which remained winless in four games, with 16 points and six steals, Kyle contributed 13 points, and Kris Harvey Pagsanjan chipped in 12 points and four rebounds.
The Scores:
UP 81 -- Lucero 14, Rivero 14, Cansino 10, Tamayo 8, Diouf 7, Spencer 7, Calimag 6, Cagulangan 4, Abadiano 2, Webb 2, Eusebio 2, Lina 2, Catapusan 2, Fortea 1, Alarcon 0.
UE 66 -- Escamis 16, K. Paranada 13, Pagsanjan 12, Catacutan 5, Lorenzana 5, Pascual 5, Guevarra 4, Tulabut 2, Sawat 2, Beltran 1, P. Cruz 1, Abatayo 0, N. Paranada 0, J. Cruz 0, Antiporda 0.
Quarters: 31-14, 50-32, 71-45, 81-66.