UP draws first blood on Ateneo, inches closer to second UAAP title

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons took Game 1 of the UAAP Season 85 men’s basketball grand finals against the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) Blue Eagles, 72-66, held at the SM Mall of Asia Arena last December 11, 2022.

In yet another classic nip-and-tuck affair between the two best UAAP schools, the Fighting Maroons showed poise under pressure to fend off Ateneo’s late offensive surge.

Last year’s hero JD Cagulangan went microwave mode in the first 10 minutes of the ball game after immediately giving the lead to UP with a series of offensive sequences.

UP then stuck to its game plan of pounding the paint as the duo of Zavier Lucero and bruising center Henry Galinato dominated the shaded lane.

Despite the presence of last season’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) Ange Kouame underneath, the duo still found a way to score deuces in the block and tried to fish for more fouls.

Just when UP thought they could snowball their way with their aggressiveness, Dave Ildefonso came alive in the last six minutes of the second quarter and drilled two three-point bombs and a tough fade-away shot from the right corner that sparked another Ateneo run.

The game went back and forth the whole third quarter as Ateneo’s BJ Andrade and Forthsky Padrigao matched Harold Alarcon and Carl Tamayo’s scoring.

UP had a slim 58-56 lead heading into the final canto but a massive 10-2 run spearheaded by Alarcon, Tamayo, and Lucero helped the Fighting Maroons pull away, 68-58.

However, Ateneo countered with their own scoring run and cut UP’s lead to just five, 70-65, after Andrade and Kouame caught fire in the last three minutes of the game.

After a timeout from UP head coach Goldwyn Monteverde, the Fighting Maroons played a more disciplined game and took care of the ball to run away with the Game 1 win.

“Preparing for Ateneo, alam naman namin kung anong klaseng team ang Ateneo. Hindi naman tayo talaga pwede mag-relax. We’ve always talked about it na playing against Ateneo, we should really play good defense,” said Monteverde.

Lucero top-scored for the Fighting Maroons with 14 points and added 11 rebounds, two assists, and two blocks while Cagulangan chipped in 12 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and two steals.