UNIVERSITY of the Philippines (UP) overcame a shortened rotation and faced St. Clare College-Caloocan game to score a 67-61 for a quarterfinals seat in the Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup Tuesday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Sean Alter made an impression with 12 points and seven rebounds, Reyland Torres poured in 16 points and grabbed two rebounds and Harold Alarcon hit clutch shots to wind up with eight points, eight rebounds, and three assists for the Fighting Maroons who seized a share of second place in Group II with a 6-2 win-loss record.
“I’m very happy with the way they responded in the game. It happens talaga, pero ang maganda rito, players stepped up,” said head coach Goldwin Monteverde, who celebrated his birthday with the win.
UP—which played without Malick Diouf, CJ Cansino and Francis Lopez—battled the Saints to 18 lead changes and seven deadlocks.
The score was tied at 61-61 with four minutes remaining until Alarcon and Alter connived for six straight points, while their defense firmed up to shut down St. Clare’s shooters.
“I just landed here four days ago. I’m still adjusted, but I feel like I’ve really hit the ground running,” said Alter, a 6-foot-8 Filipino-American recruit.
Megan Galang led the Saints with 14 points, four rebounds and two steals.
At 4-4, the Saints need to beat University Athletic Association of the Philippines champion Ateneo de (1-5) to have a shot at the next round.
Jose Rizal University, meanwhile, ousted Mapua University from quarterfinals contention, 93-84.
Joshua Guiab just missed a double-double with 21 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
He made two layups in the last 22 seconds to lead the Heavy Bombers to a 3-4 record.
Newcomers Shawn Argente and Theo Pabico impressed with 15 and 14 points, respectively.
“Yung performance namin, may flashes of brilliance na. Still, I want them to play unconscious; yung maglaro lang ba. Yun yung hinahanapan pa namin ng consistency,” said head coach Louie Gonzalez after they scored back-to-back wins even despite being out of the running.
The Cardinals dropped their second straight loss to finish the eliminations at 5-4 and just outside of the playoff picture.
Adrian Nocum led the Cardinals with 19 points, four rebounds and four steals.
Mapua’s loss allowed Letran (6-2) and Lyceum of the Philippines University (6-3) to join University of Perpetual Help (6-1) and College of St. Benilde (6-3) as Group I’s representatives for the next round.
In another Group I duel, San Sebastian College-Recoletos beat Emilio Aguinaldo College, 68-66.
Rommel Calahat delivered the goods with an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double with five assists and four blocks, while Reggz Gabat added 17 points as the Golden Stags raised their record to 3-5.
“Ang laking tulong ng Filoil, lalo na sa’king three months pa lang dito, para ma-build yung system namin. Siyempre, sobrang saya namin ngayong nakita naming nagawa yung defensive patterns namin,” said first-year head coach John Kallos.
JP Maguliano and Ralph Robin each had 15 points for the Generals (2-6).
