Rey Remogat’s resurgence propels UP to first UAAP win

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons finally received the much-awaited breakout performance from their prized recruit Rey Remogat that steered them to their first win in the ongoing UAAP Season 88 Men’s Basketball Tournament.

After firing bricks in the first two games, Remogat found his groove against his former school, the University of the East (UE) Red Warriors, draining six three-pointers that rewarded UP with a commanding 92–75 win on Sept. 28, 2025, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Remogat finished the game with 21 points off 6-of-13 shooting from downtown, alongside 11 assists, seven rebounds, and two steals.

The scoring machine only tallied 2.5 points against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) and Adamson — a huge hole that Remogat failed to fill, which didn’t meet the majority’s expectations.

A quick sigh of relief was then handed to the UP community when Remogat hit the ground running in the early minutes as he torched the Red Warriors with a series of looping treys that helped them retake the driver’s seat at the end of the first quarter.

From being down by eight points, Remogat’s personal three-point shooting display — highlighted by three drained treys — helped UP recover heading into the second frame with a seven-point advantage, 27–20.

Remogat continued his mastery in the second period as he buried two more three-pointers and dished out several dimes that put the Fighting Maroons up 53–36 at the half.

From that point, the Red Warriors never came close to UP and could only watch Remogat orchestrate another rally that ballooned the Fighting Maroons’ biggest cushion of the ball game to 20 points midway through the third quarter.

Backstopping Remogat during the much-needed dub was center Gani Stevens, who capped off the game with a double-double outing of 14 markers and 10 rebounds.

Francis Nnoruka, UP’s foreign student-athlete (FSA), supplied the exact stats as Stevens but chipped in three blocks.

“Wala naman gigil kasi ‘yun nga, galing kami sa dalawang beses na pagkatalo,” said Remogat after his bounce-back performance.

“‘Yung gigil kasi, puwedeng mangyari na pangit or maganda. Siguro, mas nag-focus lang ako sa dapat kong gawin as a point guard, at hindi ko ginawang basehan ‘yung UE para maging maganda ‘yung laro ko.”

The Fighting Maroons aim to record their first winning streak of the UAAP season on Oct. 4 against the National University (NU) Bulldogs, while UE seeks to redeem themselves on the same day against the undefeated UST Growling Tigers.