At long last! UP Fighting Maroons top Adamson for 1st UAAP finals trip in 32 years

For the first time in 32 years, the University of the Philippines will play in the UAAP Finals.

The Fighting Maroons outlasted Adamson University in an overtime classic 89-87 in front of a packed crowd at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday night to advance to the title series of the UAAP Season 81 men's basketball tournament.





Graduating guard Paul Desiderio delivered the dagger jump shot with 6.6 seconds left to peg the final score, and the Fighting Maroons forced Adamson guard Jerom Lastimosa into a tough three-pointer, which Lastimosa missed, in their final possession to seal the deal.

"It wasn't without hard work, it wasn't without tears, it wasn't without challenges," a tearful UP coach Bo Perasol said afterward. "This team will fight no matter what."

"There was a time when we already gave up, but I can just see it — I told myself that if I cannot stand for my team, if I cannot be confident for my team, if I cannot believe for my team, who else will believe?" he added. "So I just kept encouraging them, letting them know that this is not over yet. And that was what happened."

The thrilling triumph sent the third-seeded UP to the finals for the first time since 1986, also the last time the Fighting Maroons won the UAAP championship. They will be playing defending champion Ateneo de Manila University in a best-of-3 finals; the top-seeded Blue Eagles advanced after routing Far Eastern University last Sunday.

It was a truly heartbreaking defeat for the Soaring Falcons, who claimed the twice-to-beat advantage after finishing 10-4 in the elimination round. But they dropped the first game last Saturday, 73-71, on a Bright Akhuetie game-winner, then squandered a six-point advantage in overtime in the do-or-die game.

"If you are going to make a telenovela, how are you going to make it better than that?" said Perasol. "You already won it, then parang iniisip mo, how can you win it better? I'm just happy to be in the Finals . . . We're blessed to have this kind of win."

Juan Gomez de Liano delivered an all-time performance for UP, dropping 3️⃣0️⃣ PTS, a new career-high, as the Fighting Maroons advance to the Finals. #UAAPSeason81 pic.twitter.com/GBztCOkcVX

— ABS-CBN Sports (@abscbnsports) November 28, 2018

Game 1 of the finals is on Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena. ~ Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

SOURCE: https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/11/28/18/at-long-last-up-fighting-maroons-top-adamson-for-1st-uaap-finals-trip-in-32-years