Jun Manzo calls on UP bench to step up

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Jun Manzo calls on UP bench to step up

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

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UP's Jun Manzo. Arvin Lim, ABS-CBN Sports

MANILA, Philippines – The UP Fighting Maroons are going to need quite a bit of help from their bench players if they hope to return to their winning ways, said point guard Jun Manzo after they suffered a second straight defeat.

Manzo and UP star Paul Desiderio each scored 19 points against Adamson University on Wednesday, but no other UP player reached double-digits, and they lost 73-71. The defeat was especially painful, because the Fighting Maroons had led by 14 points in the opening frame, but squandered it all by the second quarter.

For Manzo, this shows that their bench has to be better.

"Kailangan talagang mag-step up 'yung bench, kasi mahihirapan kaming mga starter," said Manzo.

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He pointed out that the Soaring Falcons began to rally back when UP's second unit came into the game.

"Lumamang kami ng mga 10 points or 11 points, pumasok 'yung bench, tapos nag-table 'yung score," he lamented. "Mahihirapan talaga kami, lalo na malakas 'yung kalaban."

Adamson's reserves outscored their UP counterparts, 27-14, with Rob Manalang and Sean Manganti coming off the bench to contribute eight points each. Incidentally, both players also came up with the clutch plays in the end game for the Falcons.

In contrast, Kyles Lao was the top bench scorer for UP, with four points – all of which came in the first half of the game.

UP coach Bo Perasol acknowledged that their bench will have to improve if the Fighting Maroons hope to be a legitimate contender in the league.

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"That's my challenge to the people coming off the bench. That is always the challenge cause if I have a team that can sustain what we start then I can say for sure then we can be in the Final Four," he said.

"But that is a challenge for a team that's growing," he added. "We have to start some of my strong guys offensively, hoping that the guys coming off the bench can sustain. It's really difficult to get something from them."

With this in mind, Perasol is specifically calling on rookie Juan Gomez De Liaño to take charge of scoring once the UP second unit comes in.

"The reason I put Juan off the bench is, I told him, 'Juan, you have to take care of the scoring cudgels after Paul and Jun go out'," Perasol explained.

"Other coaches know we're not as deep as other teams, and it's a challenge for us," he also said.

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So far in Season 80, the Fighting Maroons rank dead last in bench points, as their reserves score only 26.5 points per game.

For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.

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