The UP Fighting Maroons defeated the NU Bulldogs 80-70 in the 84th UAAP men’s basketball competition on Thursday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The Maroons overcame a turnover-prone performance with a fast 11-0 burst to start the fourth quarter to earn their second victory against a defeat.

Ricci Rivero sparked the scoring blitz to establish some separation over the Bulldogs, 66-53, after trailing by a bucket coming into the fourth period, 55-53. While NU came back to go within single digits, 63-71, CJ Cansino hit a critical three-pointer to take the lead back beyond ten points. The Bulldogs’ lead proved insurmountable, as they dropped to 1-2 as the clock ran out.

Rivero led the Maroons in scoring with 19 points. He added three rebounds, four assists, two steals, and one block to his stat line. He has a +24 efficiency rating. Meanwhile, Tamayo had 13 points and eight rebounds, and Joel Cagulangan had nine points. NU was led by Michael Malonzo, who scored 11 points.

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.