Javier's miracle three sinks UP to the bottom of the standings; UE evens season series with Maroons

Not the winning shot but looked a lot like Javier's Hail Mary trey over Soyud

UP MBT Game #10 - versus UE (Sept. 2 @ the MOA Arena)

Fuck!

That was the first thing I said after the Chris Javier Hail Mary three point shot on a pass by nonetheless volume shooter Roi Sumang beat us and added more heartbreak to UP’s season. The last second triple clinched the game for the Reds, 79-76.

I was watching the game along with my friends Renel Donguya (who ironically is from UE) and Carlos Pascual on a fair weathered Sunday afternoon at the MOA Arena and was expecting UP’s win number two. Instead, we UP fans had to settle at the bottom of the pit again.

UE ran the same play as we did in the last few seconds of the game. The only difference is we flubbed ours and they somehow made theirs.

Whether you’d like to credit that to complacency on the Maroons’ end when they surrendered an early 10-point lead, UE’s continuous desire to get even with us as shown in the rebounding and second chance points disparity or just the basketball gods’ way of giving all UAAP fans another cardiac game; this game was really for UP to win, as we definitely are a better team than UE this season.

However, newly reinstated Warriors head coach Boysie Zamar had other plans. He had his guards physically hound round one hero Henry Asilum all game long (the kid played limited minutes and was not brought in at crunch time) and as mentioned earlier, had the advantage in rebounding and second chance points. I guess it was just a matter of changing the environment for this Recto-based team.

Sumang was super (20 points), Javier looked legit (20 points), Addy Santos (10 points) and Gene Belleza (9 points) were helping out as much as they can as these Red Warriors showcased the never-say-die attitude more than the UP Fighting Maroons.

The Maroons were led by Mike Silungan’s all-around brilliant game, except for that last possession wherein he passed off to Mike Gamboa (who missed a potential go-ahead basket). Silungan had 16 points to pace the Maroons. Chris Ball, Alvin Padilla and Raul Soyud added 14, 12 and 10 respectively.

UP and UE both have four games left on their schedule and are looking to salvage whatever is left of a lost season. UP is eliminated from Final Four contention for the 15^th consecutive year.

Whatever UP head coach Ricky Dandan has in mind to improve our team’s standings he should do now. The UP community will always be there to support the team as evidenced by the crowd’s live support during games and ever supportive comments on social media, but of course they would want to see some good results before the season ends.

For now, “Tuloy pa rin ang Laban.” UP Fight!!!

Game Notes:

 

Silungan led UP with 16 points but failed to win it for the Maroons

 

- UP was down as 0-8 in the early stages of the first quarter but made a run with the help of shooter Jett Manuel and pointguard Jelo Montecastro. Manuel had two three pointers and Montecastro scored a layup in the dying seconds of the first to put UP up by two, 19-17

- UP was ahead by three at the half, 40-37 and was given two freethrows before the start of the third period after Ivan Hernandez took Souyd down after an ensuing rebound play.  Soyud made both freethrows for a 42-37 count.

- UE had two unsportsmanlike fouls in the game, the one on Hernandez for taking down Soyud as the halftime buzzer sounded and the other on Jai Flores for hitting Padilla with a closed fist after a scramble for possession in the third.

- UE had a sizzling start to their second half, outscoring the Maroons 29-18 in the third quarter to turn a three-point halftime deficit into an eight-point lead entering the fourth period. They pushed the lead up to as high as 11 points, 70-59, early in the fourth.

- UP rallied behind a 7-0 blitz midway through the fourth quarter. With UE leading by five, 74-69, under four minutes to play, UP’s Diony Hipolito and Silungan hit back-to-back baskets, including a three-pointer, that tied the game up at 74.

- UE’s JR Sumindo split his free throws on a trip to the line, while Ball answered with a basket on the other end for UP as the Fighting Maroons took a 76-75 lead with 2:04 remaining.

- UE's Javier earned a trip to the charity stripe but only made one of two, tying the game again at 76-all. UP called a timeout after and drew up a play that found Gamboa momentarily open for a corner three but missed.  There were 36 seconds left before UP's final play started and Gamboa somehow rushed to make the shot after being left open. UE had a full 24 seconds to work with on their final possession.

- UP’s Silungan was seen teary eyed in the playing court after the loss. Utility guy Mark Lopez surprisingly did not get his usual playing time and Montecastro wasn’t fully recovered yet from the flu he had a few days before the game.