By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons shrugged off court rust and demolished the Philippine Christian University-Dasmariñas, 102-73, in their opening game of the UCBL Pre-Season tournament.
Fresh off a historic UAAP men’s basketball championship, the Fighting Maroons picked up where they left off and dominated PCU.
From the get-go, it was all UP torching the loose PCU defense as six of their players scored in double figures.
Bismarck Lina was a man on a mission for the Fighting Maroons and had his way in the shaded area after finishing the game with 19 points and eight rebounds.
The savvy big man wasn’t able to suit up during the majority of Fighting Maroons games in the UAAP and proved he is a solid backup to starting center Malick Diouf.
Ilonggo guard Gerry Abadiano also contributed to the win and waxed hot from the perimeter on his way to 13 big points.
Abadiano spearheaded UP’s massive second-quarter scoring rally and scored most of his points from his relentless attacks to the basket.
Aside from Lina and Abadiano, CJ Catapusan and Mark Gil Belmonte also had stellar outings and tallied 18 and 13 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, defensive maestro guard Harold Alarcon also produced decent numbers despite a limited playing time from head coach Goldwin Monteverde and put up 11 points for UP.
In the other scheduled game, the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA nipped the Lyceum Pirates, 88-87, led by scoring point guard Christian Pagaran.
