By NIKOLE JAVIER
Harold Alarcon provided the spark as University of the Philippines clobbered the hapless University of Santo Tomas, 110-79, in the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament on Saturday, Oct. 14, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The sweet-shooting Alarcon scattered 21 points to help the Fighting Maroons stretch their winning streak to five games as they posted the most lopsided win thus far this season.
Alarcon also tallied four rebounds and four assists, while JD Cagulangan finished with an all-around effort of 16 points, two rebounds and nine assists.
Chicco Briones and Francis Lopez contributed 14 and 11 points, respectively.
UST fell to 0-5.
Trailing the Tigers 21-18, the Fighting Maroon closed out the first quarter with a telling 10-3 run to grab the lead, 28-24, which they wisely protected to remain the only undefeated team.
The Maroons practically sewn up the match after taking a commanding 94-59 advantage going into the final quarter that saw UST coach Pido Jarencio scratching his head several times in utter disappointment.
“We talked about ‘yong defense namin. Sa akin siguro we played well especially in the third quarter, iyon ‘yong nag define ng game namin,” UP head coach Goldwin Monteverde said.
Nic Cabanero and Christian Manaytay delivered huge numbers withå 24 and 23 points, respectively, in the losing effort.
The scores:
UP 110 – Alarcon 21, Cagulangan 16, Briones 14, Lopez 11, Cansino 9, Diouf 8, Gonzales 8, Torres 6, Gagate 6, Torculas 3, Felicilda 2, Belmonte 2, Alter 2, Pablo 2.
UST 79 – Cabañero 24, Manaytay 23, Calum 8, Crisostomo 8, Pangilinan 6, Moore 6, Laure 4, Llemit 0, Duremdes 0, Manalang 0, Madrigal 0, Esmena 0, Gesalem 0, Ventulan 0, Lazarte 0.
Quarters: 28-24, 59-45, 94-59, 110-79.
