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THE BIGGEST story of Week 4 IS the biggest story of the season. FEU forward Mac Baracael was shot at the back by an unidentified assailant as he was walking along with two teammates near their gym last Thursday night. As speculation mounts on the reasons of the shooing, we at inboundpass.com will continue to monitor the status of Baracael and the investigations as well. We will be giving an opinion on the incident once the official reports of the investigating bodies are released. In the meantime, let’s review the week that was.

Thursday, July 24

De La Salle 76 Adamson 61. La Salle fortified its’ hold on second place by beating a resurging Adamson University to start off Week 4 of UAAP Season 71. The Archers were tested early in the game, with starters Jan Colina, Paul Gonzalgo and Marc Agustin giving the Falcons an early 6-2 lead. But after James Mangahas was called for his second foul early in the first, Rico Maierhofer came off the bench and scored seven straight points to anchor a 7-2 run to grab the lead for the Archers. It was all La Salle from there when JV Casio, Bader Malabes and Peejay Barua hit their shots from the outside to take the half at 35-22. The Archers relaxed a bit early in the third to let the Falcons cut the lead to four, 39-34 which was capped by a dunk by Agustin. But Casio doused cold water to the Adamson rally with a triple, while rookie Maui Villanueva added eight points to preserve the win for La Salle. The Archers win was their fourth in five games while Adamson suffered its’ third loss after winning two straight games.

UE 87 UP 58. The UE Red Warriors got back to their winning ways as they took the fight out of the hapless UP Fighting Maroons in the nightcap. The Maroons actually kept it close at the halfway point of the first quarter, trailing by two, 11-9 when the Warriors suddenly turned on their vaunted full court press and forced UP to turnovers while dropping a crippling 16-3 bomb for a 27-12 lead after the first quarter. It was all UE from there on, abusing UP’s defense with a 19-8 second quarter run while making life difficult for the Maroons on the offensive end. The Warriors at one point even led by 40 in the fourth quarter, but the Maroons managed to cut the lead to 29 as time expired. UE improved its’ record to 3-2 while UP dropped further to 1-4.

Saturday July 26

De La Salle 82 UP 60. An all-La Salle affair as the Archers never gave the UP Fighting Maroons even a taste of a chance. Rookie Joshua Webb shot the Archer’s first six points to leave the Fighting Maroons eating dust. From there, James Mangahas took over with 16 markers while the rest of the team contributed at least a point. After taking an eight point lead at the break, La Salle embarked on a 28-16 third quarter run to put the game out of reach. Former Rookie of the Year Woody Co paced the Fighting Maroons with 22 points (19 in the first half). With the win, La Salle cemented their hold on second place with a 5-1 record while UP continued its slide at 1-5.

FEU 71 UE 69. The best game of the season so far, as provided by the the two teams with the richest UAAP basketball tradition. The FEU Tamaraws dedicated this game to their comrade Mac Baracael as he lay in his hospital bed recuperating from a bullet shot by an unidentified assailant. The result was a very close and emotional win for the Morayta-based dribblers. It was a very close game right from the opening tip-off, with both teams battling through 11 deadlocks and eight lead changes.

Fast forward to the third quarter. UE raced to a 10 point lead at 43-33 with Rudy Lingganay Paul Lee firing 2 triples. But Tamaraw guard Ben Fernandez scored ten straight points to tie the count at 46-all. The Warriors threatened to pull away again, firing six straight points to take a 49-43 lead. With time down to 36 seconds remaining in the game the count levelled at 66-all, Andy Barroca drove past his man, fearlessly driving to the hoop to finally break the tie. After a botched UE possession, big man Aldrech Ramos was fouled and made two free throws for a 70-66 with 9 seconds left. UE swingman Hans Thiele then hit a desperation three with three seconds remaining to cut the lead to one. Barroca was fouled with 2 seconds left and hit a free throw to settle the count at 71-69. With the win, FEU improved to 4-1 while UE slipped to 3-3.

Sunday July 27

Ateneo 74 NU 62. The Blue Eagles survived a Jesse Garcia-led Bulldogs to continue its’ winning run in Season 71 of the UAAP. NU kept the game within striking distance by clamping down on defense, but timely triples by Chris Tiu and power plays by Nonoy Baclao helped Ateneo to stay in midair. Like in their game against La Salle, the Bulldogs actually started strong, and even led by as much as 7, 13-6. Then Ateneo coach Norman Black changed the pace of the game by pulling out stating guard Tiu and Bacon Austria, and inserted the faster Jai Reyes and Eric Salamat. It was a stroke of genius as this backcourt tandem forced the Bulldogs to numerous turnovers while dropping a 15-2 bomb to finally take control of the game after the first quarter, 21-15. It was cruise control for the Eagles from that point with Tiu making 17 points while Baclao and Salamat chipped in 16 and 12 points apiece. The loss sent NU further down south with a 0-5 record.

UST 86 Adamson 80. The first overtime game of season 71. The UST Tigers and Adamson Falcons fought hard to get into the middle of the pack. Both teams exchanged runs and counter-runs an extra five minutes of play was needed to decide on the outcome. UST started strong with an early 9-2 lead. Then swingman Alex Nuyles scattered 11 points to lead the Falcons with an 18-6 counter-run to take the first quarter, 20-15. The Tigers fought back with their own 18-7 run with Dylan Ababou firing 9 points to take a 36-27 lead. A 10-0 counter by the Falcons gave them a 37-36 lead at the half. It was the same story through out the third and the fourth quarter, with UST threatening to snatch the in regulation. Trailing by 7 going into the last two minutes of regulation, Adamson tightened their defense to drop a 10-0 bomb to take a 73-70 lead with 13 seconds remaining. But after a UST time out, Tiger Clark Bautista fired a triple to force overtime. In the extra period, Ababou scored five points in a 7-2 run to take an 80-75 lead, down to two minutes remaining. After Mike Galinato and Marc Agustin helped the Falcons catch up at 80-all, Ababou converted on an “And 1″ situation to give the Tigers an 83-80 lead with 53 seconds remaining. After Paul Gonzalgo turned the ball over, Mark Canlas made two free throws with 15 seconds left to provide some cushion for the Tigers. With the win, UST improved to 2-3 while Adamson fell to 2-4.

As a very emotional week comes close, we can only hope and pray that Baracael will be able recuperate fast and see action in the remaining games of UAAP Season 71. Meanwhile, whatever the results of the investigations are, we hope that the UAAP will take the necessary actions so that the safety of the athletes and the integrity of the game are preserved.

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Posted in Matchpoint