By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons extended their dominance over the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) Blue Eagles, 75-47, in the ongoing UAAP Season 87 Men’s Basketball Tournament on October 30, 2024, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
After completing the 2-0 sweep over the Blue Eagles this Season 87, the Fighting Maroons became the first team to deal Ateneo a 28-point beatdown, their worst loss in the ongoing UAAP tournament.
However, Ateneo seemed to get the better of UP after completely adjusting from their loss in the first round, taking a slim 17-15 lead made possible by their better defensive help in the perimeter and a more efficient offensive showing.
Just when the Blue Eagles thought they could replicate their schemes and maintain their pace, the Fighting Maroons showed poise under pressure and turned a two-point deficit into a 16-point lead when they went berserk in the second canto.
UP hosted a game-changing 20-6 scoring run, kicked off by a collective offensive barrage from Jacob Bayla, Francis Lopez, and Quentin Millora-Brown.
The trio sparked the Fighting Maroons’ fiery scoring frenzy and became the staple lineup inside the court for head coach Goldwin Monteverde until the end of the second quarter.
Bayla’s relentlessness in attacking Ateneo’s interior started UP’s scoring party, capped off by the paint scoring of Lopez and Millora-Brown.
Ateneo showed some signs of life in the third when they started to hit a couple of three-pointers generated from their floppy set plays but UP was quick to counter with another avalanche that ballooned their cushion to as much as 25 points.
Coach Tab Baldwin, Ateneo’s long-time chief tactician, decided to wave the white flag early in the fourth and rested his starters after they failed to get to within 15 points, their goal at the start of the fourth.
Lopez once again imposed his will just like their first meeting in the first round and led the Fighting Maroons with a 20-point performance built from an efficient 7/9 shooting from the field.
The athletic swingman was everywhere on the hardwood, crashing for offensive boards that piled up the Fighting Maroons’ second-chance points.
Millora-Brown showed steadiness for UP and tallied a double-double outing of 11 markers and 10 boards, while Bayla added eight points, six rebounds, and a steal.
UP’s last game before the Final Four begins will be on November 10, 2024, where they seek to exact revenge on the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers, the only school that tainted their record in 10 games.
