Zavier Lucero took charge during University of the Philippines' thrilling 61-59 win over De La Salle University in the UAAP Season 84 men's basketball tournament, Thursday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Lucero, a 'two-and-through' master's student-athlete from Cal State Maritime Academy. pumped in 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter including the go-ahead basket with 1:49 left.
Lucero, with the help of Joel Cagulangan, unleashed a 14-4 run to turn a 45-52 Fighting Maroons deficit to a 59-56 lead with 3:27 to go.
With 3.8 seconds remaining off the inbound, Green Archer Michael Phillips received the ball at the top of the key and drove to the basket but missed as time expired.
“I felt halos buong game, maybe first hanggang third quarter, we struggled offensively,” said UP coach Goldwin Monteverde. “Good thing, especially in the fourth quarter, talagang nag step up ang defense namin. I thought Carl (Tamayo) played really good defense against Baltazar in the fourth.”
Lucero added 14 rebounds including nine on the offensive end with two steals and a block.
Cagulangan had all his five points in that game-changing run to go with seven assists, five rebounds, and two steals against five turnovers.
The Fighting Maroons zoomed to 5-1, running their winning streak to four games while pulling the Green Archers down to 4-2 at the third spot.
Justine Baltazar and Evan Nelle tallied 13 points apiece for the Green Archers with the former chipping in 10 rebounds.
The first round will conclude on Saturday with DLSU battling Adamson University at 1 pm, while UP facing Far Eastern University at 7 pm.
The Scores:
UP 61 -- Lucero 21, Tamayo 9, Cansino 9, Spencer 7, Diouf 7, Cagulangan 5, Fortea 3, Rivero 0, Alarcon 0, Abadiano 0.
LA SALLE 59 -- Baltazar 13, Nelle 13, M. Phillips 9, Nonoy 9, Winston 7, Lojera 3, Galman 3, Nwankwo 2, Austria 0, B. Phillips 0, Cuajao 0.
Quarterscores: 17-17, 32-35, 43-48, 61-59. (Dennis Lachica, Sportsmanila Photojournalist)