Rivero, Fighting Maroons pull off back-to-back wins in UAAP Season 84
Fresh from their first victory of the season, the Fighting Maroons are gunning to continue their win streak.
Ricci Rivero and the UP Fighting Maroons start their win streak in the UAAP Season 84 Men’s Basketball Tournament after an 80–70 victory, dismantling the gutty NU Bulldogs at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The match seemed to be a back-and-forth affair, with the deficits between the Bulldogs and the Maroons in the first three frames not reaching double digits.
NU was ablaze with a feisty 6–0 run early in the first quarter, but UP answered with a 10–0 fightback, courtesy of James Spencer’s two-pointer, to stop the bleeding.
Both teams committed turnovers and exhibited a bit of sloppiness in the second frame, but NU managed to be on top by one, 32–31.
Prized recruit and former NU Bullpup Terrence Fortea helped boost the Maroon spirit and showed off against his former alma mater to give UP the lead, 42–39 in halftime.
Despite a still-sloppy theme in the third, Ricci Rivero led the UP Fighting Maroons and stepped on the gas entering the fourth, to solidify a 13–2 run and go on top of the Bulldogs, 68–61.
NU’s Reyland Torres helped push the Sampaloc-based squad’s chances of trimming the deficit to turn the tables around, rallying behind just by 6 points, but came off quite late, with Rivero and Tamayo shutting the doors, accompanied by a couple of fouls and free throws.
Fighting Maroons head coach Goldwin Monteverde stressed the imperative for the team to address its lapses, particularly its loose beginnings, despite the victory.
“I think with this third game, we need to correct that slow start, but we were able to pick it up through the course of the game. This is something we need to take a look at,”
Senior Ricci Rivero top-scored the Fighting Maroons with 19 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block.
Terrence Fortea also proved to be one of UP’s bright spots, tallying a total of 9 points, with 6 assists and an +11 plus-minus.
Michael Malonzo and Reyland Torres led NU with 11 and 10 points respectively but falls to 1–2 in the fast-paced season.
The Fighting Maroons stay in the winning column and will face the winless University of the East Red Warriors (0–2) on Saturday, April 2, hoping to extend their streak to three.
The Scores
UP 80— Rivero 19, Tamayo 13, Cagulangan 9, Fortea 8, Cansino 8, Spencer 6, Lucero 5, Diouf 4, Alarcon 4, Catapusan 2, Abadiano 2, Ramos 0, Lina 0.
NU 70 — Malonzo 11, Torres 10, Clemente 9, Mahinay 9, Felicilda 8, Ildefonso 7, Enriquez 4, Galinato 4, Tibayan 4, Joson 2, Manansala 2, Figueroa 0, Minerva 0, Yu 0.
Quarters: 20–25, 42–39, 55–53, 80–70.
