Maroons back as champs

MANILA, Philippines —  The UAAP crown finally found its way back to Diliman after taking U-turns in back-to-back seasons.

Righting the ship after mishaps in 2022 and 2023, the country’s premier State U took care of business at the finish line and pulled off a 66-62 win over La Salle to rule the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball in front of 25,248 fans at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Maroons were blanked in the last two games of Seasons 85 and 86 by Ateneo and La Salle, respectively, for a couple of bridesmaid finishes.

Facing the spectre of the same windup, the Maroons came through with the needed killer punch this time and thus hoisted a second title in four years.

And it was Francis Lopez, in a redemption from big time foul-up from the line in their 76-75 Game 2 defeat, who came through at the finish.

With the Maroons up by a precarious point in the final minute, Lopez drained a dagger triple to give UP a 64-60 lead that proved to be enough to carry the team to the mountaintop.

Lopez, who made no excuses for his mistakes and vowed a strong comeback, did just that, delivering a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds plus six assists, a steal and a block in an all-around brilliance.

Game 1 hero Quentin Millora-Brown was steady with 14 points and 10 rebounds laced by an assist, a steal and a block, Finals MVP JD Cagulangan had 12 points, two rebounds, four assists and three steals as Gerry Abadiano and Harold Alarcon chipped in nine and seven, respectively.

As a solid unit, the UP Maroons fought a big fight.

The Diliman-based hoopers seized a six-point advantage at the turn and threatened to shatter the game wide open as they erected a lead as high as 14 at 54-40 after an Abadiano bucket.

The Archers would mount an uprising like they always do, unloading a 16-2 run capped by Kevin Quiambao’s long triple to tie things up at 56, leading to a nip-and-tuck battle down the stretch.

But UP had a deep resolve with graduating ace Cagulangan punctuating his swan song with a clutch triple to make it a 61-58 upperhand.

Lian Ramiro kept La Salle afloat with a contested basket the next possession before Lopez slammed the door on La Salle’s hopes.

EJ Gollena’s steal and layup that pushed the Archers to within 62-64 in the last 46 seconds hardly mattered as Abadiano snatched an offensive rebound to deny them a second chance – and for good – with Millora-Brown icing the trophy from the free throw line with two pressure-packed freebies.

Mike Phillips had 18 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block but he graduated in the final seconds following a foul on Millora-Brown while Quiambao had 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting after lifting La Salle to a comeback win in Game 2.

Meanwhile, it did not take long for National U to reclaim its lost glory in the UAAP basketball queendom.

The Lady Bulldogs ascended back to the throne that they surrendered after seven straight seasons of reign by quickly unseating the Santo Tomas Tigresses, 78-73, in Game 3 of the women’s basketball finals.

Rookie Cielo Pagdulagan stood the tallest in NU’s sweet redemption, hauling a near double-double of 21 points and nine rebounds on top of three assists and three steals in only 26 minutes of play to clinch the Finals Most Valuable Player plum.

It wasn’t an unblemished march like the school had at the pinnacle of its dynasty with a defeat suffered in Game 2, 78-68, after a 15-0 run.