By Jhon Bryan Ulanday
ROOKIE Zavier Lucero dazzled for a career-best outing as University of the Philippines (UP) turned it up late for a thrilling 61-59 win over La Salle to gain a solo second place in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 84 at the Mall of Asia Arena on Thursday.
Continuing to be a revelation for the Fighting Maroons, the Filipino-American forward erupted for 21 points and 14 rebounds including nine offensive boards, two steals and a block as they notched their fifth consecutive win for a 5-1 record behind unbeaten champion Ateneo.
Carl Tamayo added nine markers and 11 rebounds, CJ Cansino also had nine on two treys while Joel Cagulangan provided a spark with five markers, five boards, seven assists and two steals against his former team.
Malick Diouf and James Spencer also stepped up for veteran Ricci Rivero’s scoreless showing with seven each for the Fighting Maroons, who eked out another close win after overcoming Adamson on Tuesday, 73-71.
“I felt that we struggled offensively the whole game but we turned it up on defense especially in the fourth quarter,” said coach Goldwin Monteverde as UP limited La Salle to 11 points in the deciding quarter.
Despite a sizzling four-game winning rampage, the sloppy Fighting Maroons with 23 turnovers trailed for the most part of the game including a 45-52 deficit midway through the payoff period before Mr. Lucero, who sizzled for 20 against the Soaring Falcons, took over.
The 6-foot-6 ace poured 11 of his career-high campaign in the final canto highlighted by a go-ahead putback in the 1:48 mark for a 61-59 cushion as UP held the fort the rest of the way to complete a 16-7 finishing kick.
Justine Baltazar hauled his own in a duel with Gilas Pilipinas teammate Mr. Tamayo with 13 points and 10 boards, but La Salle still fell short to get a win run going anew after taming Santo Tomas the other day, 75-66.
Evan Nelle also put up 13 in La Salle’s second loss in six starts to slip at third place with still a game to spare in the first round of eliminations.
The Scores:
UP 61 – Lucero 21, Tamayo 9, Cansino 9, Spencer 7, Diouf 7, Cagulangan 5, Fortea 3, Rivero 0, Alarcon 0, Abadiano 0.
La Salle 59 – Baltazar 13, Nelle 13, M. Phillips 9, Nonoy 9, Winston 7, Lojera 3, Galman 3, Nwankwo 2, Austria 0, B. Phillips 0, Cuajao 0.
Quarterscores: 17-17, 32-35, 43-48, 61-59.