UP zaps fight out of Ponferrada-less NU 5
08/15/2009 | 06:34 PM
“Malaki ang naitulong ng pagkawala ni Ponferrada sa amin," said UP coach Aboy Castro, whose boys were able to book their second win in eight matches and avenge their 74-64 defeat to the same team last July 11.
Ponferrada was sent out of the playing court with teammate Jerome Tungcul after getting off the bench to help another teammate Joseph Terso, who figured in an altercation with UP's Francis Maniego.
Ponferrada and Tungcul left the match with NU leading, 33-29, with five minutes and 24 seconds left in the second quarter.
Without Ponferrada the Fighting Maroons hauled 45 boards compared to NU’s 32, and forced the Bulldogs to take their chances of scoring from the outside.
That also gave UP the opportunity to erase NU’s double-digit edge with a 14-5 run at the start of the third gave the Fighting Maroons a 49-48 lead midway in the period.
Another 10-1 exchange before the end third canto put the Fighting Maroons ahead, 68-59, entering the final period.
Scores
UP 78 - Reyes 17, Maniego 15, Reyes 14, Sison 10, Padilla 4, Gomez 2, Astorga 2, Lopez 2, Lopez 1, Juruena 1, Gingerich 0, Braganza 0.
NU 76 - Hermosisima 25, Cabaluna 18, Singh 10, Baloran 8, Manito 7, Terso 4, Ponferrada 2, Magat 1, Luy 1, Tungcul 0, Roy 0, Fabula 0, Batac 0.
Quarter scores: 22-23, 35-43, 68-59, 78-76.
But NU never gave up and put up a decent fight in the fourth, threatening anew at 75-78, with less than a minute in the match.
But a Denmark Cabaluna split free throw and a Joseph Hermosisima missed three-pointer plus UP’s deliberate effort to foul protected that slim lead.
After a jumpball which NU won with 7.7 seconds left, UP fouled Hermosisima who was forced to miss his second attempt in an effort to give his team the chance to grab the rebound and score which could either send the game into overtime or give them the win.
Neither happened, especially with their top slotman out of the game, as UP center Magi Sison secured the ball to secure the win for the Maroons.
“Deliberate talaga yong foul namin. I decided that if NU will get their chance it will be behind the foul line and not from the perimeter," Castro explained after their victory. – Perry Legaspi, GMANews.TV
