Maroons UPset Blue Eagles 68-58

Overconfident - Atenean trait...please refer to Ateneo vs. NU 2007 2nd round game.

Well, like what they say, its better to lose early than during the homestretch. The Battle of Katipunan showed that in the modern era, the story of David and Goliath still holds true. The UP Fighting Maroons, winless in their first three outings proved that with grit and determination it can make the impossible happen as they beat the previously unbeaten Ateneo Blue Eagles 68-58.

The UP Maroons shot a woeful 41.2% from the field, but not to be outdone are the Blue Eagles who could only come out with a 38% shooting clip on 19 out of 50 shooting. It was also hard to believe that the Maroons outrebounded the Eagles 37-34, had one more assist 16-15 but the most important stat for the Maroons is that they addressed their turnovers and played with more confidence as they forced the Blue Eagles who averaged only 13 turnovers to 18 for the whole game, the Maroons had only 14.

Woody Co and Mark Lopez combined for 30 points as both players together with Carlo Gomez and Alvin Padilla waxed hot in the second half as the Maroons dropped a 14-0 bomb to erase a 29-35 deficit to go up 43-35. At that point the Blue Eagles did not know what hit them as the Maroons played their chips right while the Blue Eagles were in disarray with only Nico Salva as the bright spot who scored the 6 points of the Blue Eagles in the third quarter.

When the fourth quarter came, the Blue Eagles would go exclusively to Rabah Al-Husaini who was silent and temperemental the first three quarters. Unfortunately for the Blue Eagles they were slow to go down as the rampage of the Maroons continued with Mark Lopez darting for fastbreaks while Woody Co and Alvin Padilla sinking consecutive three pointers. All the Eagles can do was watch in disbelief as their unbeaten season came to an end. The Blue Eagle crowd was stunned with what they saw, it looked as if the Fighting Maroons were the unbeaten team while the Blue Eagles were the ones with a 0 -3 slate. We hope that this game will serve as a wake up call for the BLue Eagles that they shouled not take any team lightly.

UP (68)

Co 15, Lopez 15, Gomez 9, Padilla 8, Sison 7, Braganza 7, de Asis 3, Maniego 2, Juruena 2, Gamboa 0, Gingerich 0, Mi. Reyes 0, Ma. Reyes 0

ATENEO (58)

Al-Husaini 17, Salva 11, Salamat 9, Reyes 8, Long 5, Monfort 3, Chua 2, Baclao 2, Gonzaga 1, Tiongson 0, Sumalinog 0, Golla 0, de Chavez 0, Austria 0, Buenafe 0

Quarter scores: 18-22, 29-35, 46-41, 68-58