In their first ever title encounter, University of the Philippines played like a real champion while De La Salle University showed up with butterflies in its stomach.

Determined to redeem the crown they lost last year, the Fighting Maroons delivered a masterclass, hammering a lopsided 97-67 victory over the jittery Green Archers in Game 1 of their Season 86 University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament best-of-three finals series last night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

The Fighting Maroons will shoot for their fourth UAAP title on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Francis Lopez and JD Cagulangan fueled UP’s early rally to build a 53-41 cushion at the half before Harold Alarcon joined the scoring parade in the third period to bury the Green Archers, 24-14, that allowed them to dictate the tempo the rest of the way.

Alarcon finished with a game-high 21 points on a very impressive 6-of-9 shooting while Lopez, who is set to be named as Rookie of the Year, fired 15 points and 11 rebounds for UP, which is playing in the finals for third consecutive year.

On the contrary, the Green Archers are seeing in their first finals appearance in six years with majority of their players looking sluggish against a ferocious UP onslaught that led to the most lopsided result of the finals opener in the Final Four era.