Paras Feels Blessed in UAAP Debut with Maroons

The UP Fighting Maroons closed yet another down-to-the-wire matchup with rival Adamson Soaring Falcons, 83-82, in overtime on Sunday.

Kobe Paras in his first UAAP game as a Maroon led the team to a hard-fought victory with his 20 points and 6 rebounds. Bright and Juan GDL backed him up offensively by also scoring in double digits.

It seemed like the “Final Four” energy from last year was still with the crowd when the two teams met again. Just like in the past, the Maroons capitalized in the motivation they drew from the ever-passionate UP Community to come back from a huge deficit in the game’s first half. Ricci took to Twitter his love for UP fans and said, “… I just wanna thank the UP community and those supporting us for always being there.”

After the game, Kobe joined the media in celebrating the team’s victory. He recalled his struggles in playing abroad and although being part of UP was not actually planned, he feels blessed now that he is donning the Maroon jersey.

UP will face NU tomorrow in the first match of UAAP Student Wednesday.

Follow the writer on Twitter @stevemmp_22