UE SURVIVES 2OT THRILLER, KEEPS FINAL FOUR HOPES ALIVE

By: Joaquin Cortez

University of the East survived a grueling double-overtime battle to edge Far Eastern University-Diliman, 98-90, Saturday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, keeping its hopes of defending the UAAP Season 88 Junior High School Basketball crown alive.

With the win, the Strong Group-backed Junior Warriors improved to 8-6 and remain in fifth place. Their Final Four fate now depends on sixth-placed Ateneo de Manila University upsetting fourth-placed Adamson University (8-5) Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena at 9:30 a.m. A win for Ateneo would set up a playoff for the No. 4 seed between UE and the Baby Falcons.

“I’m very happy with the growth of my boys, especially this season,” said UE first-year coach Matthew Sia. “Sabi ko nga, bigyan lang kaming chance to enter the Final Four, we’re gonna do our best. Pinakita ng mga boys today na we beat FEU-D, so I’m very happy with their teamwork.”

The Junior Warriors broke the game open in the second overtime after splitting his free throws to lead 92-90, Goodluck Okebata drained a clutch three-pointer from the left corner to make it 95-90. Prince Cariño tried to rally FEU-D, but his putback attempt failed, allowing James Mesa to grab the rebound and hit a floater, extending the lead to 97-90 with 48 seconds remaining.

The win was payback for UE, which lost to FEU-D, 72-68, in the first round on October 19. The Baby Tamaraws forced both overtime periods, with Dwyne Enriquez’s three with 9.9 seconds left in regulation sending the game to the first OT, and Kyle Mojica’s basket at 32.1 seconds in the first OT forcing the second.

Zion Aguilar, returning from an injury scare, led UE with 30 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, and three steals. Okebata added 23 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, and two steals, while Mark Perdigon contributed 21 points and 12 rebounds. Austin Delos Santos chipped in 10 points.