The UP Men’s Basketball team displayed complete domination once again, trampling the UE Red Warriors, 84-69, to gain their second straight victory of the UAAP Season 86 at the Mall of Asia Arena, Wednesday afternoon.
The reigning MVP, Malick Diouf, offered a double-double performance for the second straight time, with 19 points and 16 rebounds. Maroon Captain CJ Cansino pumped up 17 points with three markers beyond the arc.
The first frame highlighted hot hands from the Maroons to stitch off a 22-2 start as the onslaught continued to a 32-9 at the end of the first quarter against an offensively cold Red Warriors.
The Red Warriors tried to steer off the Maroons’ momentum at the first half with Rey Remogat and Precious Momowei offering 8 and 4 markers, respectively. The three-point rain from the Maroons continued the offensive massacre, ending the second frame, 49-28.
Maroon dominance did not last long as the Red Warriors continued to put up a fight. Devin Fikes put up a show in the last minutes of the third frame, offering 6 points under two minutes to trim the UP lead to 13, 62-49.
The Maroons grew lax at the last stretch of the third frame up to the early minutes of the payoff period which gave the Red Warriors ample time to further trim the lead in a continuous offensive run by Fikes and Momowei.
In the early minutes of the payoff period, Momowei’s layup gave the ball game a single-digit deficit as the Red Warriors pushed for a possible comeback miracle. However, the Maroons answered back with a 10-0 run shutting down the possible comeback, 72-53.
The lead ballooned to 20, keeping the double digit lead until the last second of the last frame. Cansino put up the final trey, finishing the game in an onslaught victory, 84-69.
The same day, the Lady Maroons clinched its second dominating win, this time, against the UE Lady Red Warriors, 66-48, at the Adamson University Gymnasium.
Marielle Vingno and Christine Bariquit put on 13 and 12 points respectively to cap the wide deficit for the entire ball game.
The Maroons will take on the NU Bulldogs on Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum. While the Lady Maroons will play against the defending champions Lady Bulldogs at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion. ●
