By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons survived a late offensive explosion from the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers, 72-69, in the ongoing UAAP Season 84 Men’s Basketball tournament.
Rookie big man Carl Tamayo dropped a new collegiate career-high 23 points and was the main point of attack of the Fighting Maroons who just continued to answer every DLSU bucket in the most crucial stretch of the final canto.
The former Gilas Pilipinas young cadet was bound for a monster performance after immediately scoring 11 quick points in just the first quarter off three long bombs and an easy deuce underneath the rim.
Tamayo also helped control the boards and grabbed a total of 11 rebounds and also contributed an assist, a steal, and a block.
The Fighting Maroons bullied the loose Green Archers defense early on and built their largest lead to 16 in the third quarter.
The trio of Tamayo, Malick Diouf, and Zavier Lucero became La Salle’s worst nightmare as they dominated the shaded lane for the entire game but Justine Baltazar and Michael Phillips would respond in the last seven minutes of the game.
What was once a 16-point lead for the Fighting Maroons quickly vanished to just six when the two frontcourt members for La Salle started to click offensively and made things interesting in what was once a blowout party.
Evan Nelle also helped spark the La Salle comeback with his smooth and savvy shooting and dimed the ball twice to an open Phillips to keep his team within striking distance.
However, Tamayo sank timely baskets in the last four minutes of the game to help UP go up to as much as seven points and build a comfortable cushion.
With 40 seconds left and UP leading by eight points, the Green Archers suddenly sparked a 6-0 run to trail by only two points, 71-69, with 10 seconds left in the game.
UP missed a free throw and added a point to their lead, 72-69, that gave La Salle a chance to tie and force overtime but Mark Nonoy’s three-point attempt went off the backboard.
The huge victory kept the Fighting Maroons at the solo second spot with a 9-2 win-loss record while the Green Archers fell to 7-4.
