UNIVERSITY of the Philippines showed no signs of rust after manhandling Adamson, 69-53, on Wednesday in the 19th Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup presented by ABC Tile Adhesive in San Juan.

Rey Remogat erupted for 11 of his 14 points in the Fighting Maroons’ decisive 22-point fourth-quarter surge, turning a tightly contested 47-43 game into a commanding 68-51 lead with a minute remaining.

He also tallied seven assists and three rebounds as State U secured its fourth straight victory in its first game since returning from Canada.

“That’s not about just starting out well. Kailangan yung buong game, being able to be consistent, we have to work on that,” said coach Goldwin Monteverde.

Migs Palanca added a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, while Veejay Pre scored five of his nine points during UP’s strong opening stretch.

The victory also completed the UAAP Group’s quarterfinal cast for the crossover playoffs of the tournament, which is backed by Hanes, Buffalo’s Wings N’ Things, Wallem, BDO, Akari, Smart, Molten, Reyes Barbecue, Nature’s Spring, Tela.com Athletics, Brothers Burger, and Don Benito’s.

National U (4-1), La Salle (4-1), and University of Santo Tomas (3-3) had already secured their playoff berths.

Ray Allen Torres paced the winless Soaring Falcons (0-4) with 18 points built on five three-pointers, while Matty Erolon added 15 points on four triples in the loss.

San Beda and Mapua also needed late-game heroics to boost their standings in the NCAA Group.

Jomel Puno came to the rescue for the Red Lions, completing an alley-oop play from Dominic Sarigumba with 1.0 seconds left to stun winless Arellano, 76-75.

“The last play was for Jomel,” admitted coach Yuri Escueta. “I have to give it to Dom, who gave an excellent pass to Jomel, and also Kai [Efron]’s backpick. Good execution in terms of the players.”

Puno finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, and two assists as San Beda bounced back and improved to 6-1.

Bismarck Lina chipped in 11 points and six rebounds to help offset Aldous Torculas’ quiet three-point outing.

T-Mc Ongotan scored 22 points and added three steals in the loss as the Chiefs suffered another heartbreaking defeat to fall to 0-7.

Mapua also escaped with a narrow victory thanks to Marc Igliane, who converted a putback with 5.8 seconds remaining to lift the Cardinals past Emilio Aguinaldo College, 85-83.

Igliane posted a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, providing solid support for MC Cuenco, who finished with 21 points and four boards.

“It was a designed play for Cyrus, but the good thing is that we had a very good shot by Marcus [Nitura] and then we got the offensive rebound, and that’s history,” said coach Chito Victolero, whose squad won its fourth straight game to improve to 5-1. “It’s an ugly win, but we’ll take it.”

Last game’s hero Yam Concepcion contributed 11 points and nine rebounds, while rookie Jamal Diaz added 13 points.

Jude Bagay led EAC (4-4) with 17 points as the Generals saw their three-game winning streak come to an end.

NCAA Group leader Jose Rizal University also returned to the win column with a 78-69 victory over cellar-dwelling San Sebastian.

Chris Hubilla once again starred for the Heavy Bombers, posting a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Allen Laurenaria led the starters with 13 points as JRU improved to 7-1.

Neil Castor’s 15 points were the lone bright spot for the struggling Golden Stags (0-7), while Matthew Acosta added 14 points and five rebounds.

The Scores:

First Game:
San Beda 76 – Puno 17, Lina 11, Jamora 8, Sarigumba 8, Bonzalida 7, Marcelo 6, Dabao 5, Efron 4, Torculas 3, Jalbuena 3, Etulle 2, Songcuya 2, Culdora 0, Ugaddan 0, Ri. Calimag 0.
Arellano 75 – Ongotan 22, Geronimo 10, Abiera 8, Valencia 7, Borromeo 7, Camay 7, Vinoya 6, Ladica 3, Flores 2, Manansala 2, Langit 1, Demetria 0, Buenaventura 0, De Leon 0.
Quarterscores: 29-24, 44-43, 60-59, 76-75.

Second Game:
Jose Rizal 78 – Hubilla 17, Laurenaria 13, Mangubat 11, Salvador 9, Palis 7, Eligado 6, Garupil 5, Duque 4, Panapanaan 2, Peñaverde 2, Masiglat 2, Herrera 0, Castillo 0, Mejia 0.
San Sebastian 69 – Castor 15, Acosta 14, Gabat 8, Ynot 6, Ricio 5, Gomez de Liaño 5, Segovia 5, Muktimar 4, Barroga 3, Bacani 2, Kitane 2, Salvo 0, Cuya 0, Suico 0.
Quarterscores: 21-18, 38-38, 63-53, 78-69.

Third Game:
Mapua 85 – Cuenco 21, Diaz 13, Igliane 13, Concepcion 11, S. Reyes 6, M. Nitura 5, Bernabe 4, L. Nitura 3, Sacro 3, F. Reyes 2, Callangan 2, Ryan 2, Timbol 0, Pascual 0, Liwanag 0.
Emilio Aguinaldo 83 – Bagay 17, M. Raymundo 16, Nunag 13, H. Raymundo 10, Shanoda 9, Oftana 6, Castillo 4, Bonus 4, Ochavo 2, Sealey 2.
Quarterscores: 15-18, 43-46, 60-67, 85-83.

Fourth Game:
UP 69 – Remogat 14, Palanca 12, Pre 9, Dimaculangan 9, Miles 7, Payosing 6, Bayla 5, Stevens 3, Alter 2, Briones 2, Yniguez 0, Poyos 0, Ogana 0.
ADU 53 – Torres 18, Erolon 15, Cruz-Dumont 6, Fransman 4, Artango 3, Precious 2, Obusan 2, Edding 2, Anabo 1, Tumaneng 0, Perez 0, Medina 0, Sajili 0, Montebon 0, Demisana 0.
Quarterscores: 22-16, 38-28, 47-43, 69-53.

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