“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,” UP head coach Goldwin Monteverde said.

The Fighting Maroons had a slow start trying to find their zone with a five points deficit while the Bulldogs continued biting up as Mark Malonzo stood up to be the pack leader by scoring 11 points and five rebounds.

But UP retaliated in the second frame to finish with Rivero boxing out NU with his two consecutive shots to close the gap, 31-32, at the 4:53 mark and extended the lead, 42-39, as Joel Cagulangan released a three.

The Diliman-squad struggled on momentum as they finished the third quarter with only two points ahead over NU as they came out of possession of the ball two times in a row at the 6:21 mark to give four points for NU with no sweat but easily backed up by Carl Tamayo’s three from his total points of 13.

Still, Rivero managed to bring the victory at the front door of UP to register the first three in the last frame and made a steal for the score at 6:55 minutes on the shot clock, and extended the lead to 13 points, 66-53.

NU tried to force its way out Reynal Torres went all the way to the bucket to contribute a total of 10 points but that did not spark up for the Bulldogs to come close again and ended the match with a 70-80 deficit.

UP will try to improve its 2-1 win-loss situation this Saturday by facing the University of the East (UE) while NU will match Far Eastern University (FEU) on the same day.

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.