MANILA -- Third year mentor Aboy Castro filed an indefinite leave last Wednesday as the University of the Philippines (UP) suffered a nail biting third straight loss at the 73rd UAAP men’s basketball tournament.

Leilani Gonzalo, dean of the College of Human Kinetics of the state university, said Castro left the coaching chores of UP for now due to personal reasons.

“Coach Aboy Castro sent us a message that he was going to go on leave. We have not been able to talk to him (Castro). He sent a text message, it was really just by phone although we invited him to talk over the situation so we can try to resolve it,” she told reporters.

Gonzalo added: “I saw him last Tuesday. In fact I met him on the way out of my office and he introduced coach Boyet (Fernandez) as the new consultant.”

Aside from Fernandez, assistant coaches Potit De Vera and Jerry Codiñera filled in for Castro.

With the absence of Castro, UP blew its chance to crack the win column after the University of Santo Tomas leaned on its fiery outside shooting to outlast them in a 87-81 decision on Thursday at the Araneta Coliseum.

UP joined University of the East at the cellar (0-3) after losing heavily to La Salle in season opener and Adamson University last Saturday. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)