By Jun Ray Navarres
University of the Philippines orchestrated a spectacular second-half surge to tame the National University, securing a gritty 66-59 victory in the UAAP Season 88 Men’s Basketball Tournament on Saturday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
The win not only hands the streaking Bulldogs (3-1) their first defeat of the season but also propels the defending champion (2-2) to their second consecutive victory, officially putting them on a roll.
“He’s (Gold Monteverde) always emphasized, ‘yung process rather than the result. Now, I know that, as mentioned earlier, we started the first two games 0 and 2,” said Fighting Maroons assistant coach Christian Luanzon. “We we’re just continuing to build, even though the season started for us already, you know, every practice, every game is a continuing process for us to get better.”
NU looked poised to continue their flawless run early on. With Steve Nash Enriquez’ seven-point solo run to open the third quarter, the Bulldogs built a commanding lead that ballooned to as much as 13 points, 47-34.
However, UP, known for their championship mettle, unleashed a counter 22-2 run spanning the third and fourth periods, flipping the script entirely.
Fil-Am guard Miguel Yñiguez sparked the Fighting Maroons’ initial 14-2 uprising with a layup and back-to-back triples to trim the lead 49-48.
Francis Nnoruka, Gani Stevens, and Harold Alarcon carried over the momentum into the final frame to build a 58-50 cushion with exactly three minutes remaining.
An inside basket from Reyland Torres with 30.4 seconds left sealed the deal, giving UP a decisive 65-53 advantage before NU could reduce the final margin slightly.
“’Yung mga minor adjustments namin, especially nung half time, we felt every screen that they were giving us kasi this is a heavy ball screen team. It felt like every screen would hit our guards hard. But it’s a two-man game and a five-man action so what’s important is everybody’s involved in communication,” added Luanzon, as they held NU to a meager 16 points in the entire second half.
Nnoruka led the charge for the Diliman-based squad with 14 points and six rebounds while he was backed up by Gani Stevens, who tallied 10 points. Meanwhile Alarcon and Yñiguez both chipped in 8 points apiece.
On the other hand, Enriquez led the Bulldogs with 16 points, four assists, two rebounds, and two steals in the losing effort, while Gelo Santiago added 10 points.
UP will be facing unbeaten Ateneo de Manila University in the highly anticipated ‘Battle of Katipunan’ on Wednesday, October 8, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay. Meanwhile, NU looks to bounce back against Adamson University on the same date and venue.
Featured image courtesy of UAAP Media Bureau
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