University of the East star guard Paul Lee drained a long three-pointer with 17.9 seconds left to lift the Red Warriors to a 59-54 squeaker over winless University of the Philippines for their first victory in Season 73 of the UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum.

“Wala lang,” said the long-haired Chongson. “We are not here to win one game. We’ve got a long way to go and this is just the first step, the spark.”

The 6’1″ Lee, nursing a fractured right foot and a stomach virus, sank two treys in the dying minutes to help the Red Warriors complete a comeback and move up to seventh in this season’s team standings. He finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and two steals.

Meanwhile, the Fighting Maroons crashed to their fifth straight loss and faced the prospect of missing the Final Four yet again.

Highly-touted rookie Mike Silungan delivered the goods for UP, scoring 20 markers and pulling down five boards, but got little help from his teammates.

Center Magi Sison was the only other scorer in double-digits for the Maroons with 11 points and eight rebounds.