BY Andrei Barrantes
NU-NAZARETH School got its payback a year in the making after outlasting now-dethroned Adamson, 64-62, in their UAAP Season 87 boys' basketball Final Four encounter, Sunday at San Juan's Filoil EcoOil Centre.
Of course, Best Foreign Student-Athlete frontrunner Collins Akowe was the focal point of the Baby Falcons defense. The Bullpups' Nigerian big scored 11 points with only nine field goal attempts, all while dealing with foul trouble for majority of the match.
READ: Kieffer Alas ends UAAP Season 87 out of Final Four - but as presumptive MVP
Behind bench players led by Migs Palanca, Mot Matias, Mikho Natinga, and Ain Usop, however, NUNS overcame the big void left by Akowe for a 61-53 lead under the last three minutes.
Still, Adamson showed the heart of a champion and crept to as close as two, but as only 1.6 seconds were left on the clock by then, saw its title defense come to a close in the semifinals.
Last year, the Bullpups fell victim to the Baby Falcons in three games in the title series, making the former's three wins in three tries against the latter this season all the more satisfying.
Their bench was the first and foremost reason for this most recent win, as Palanca (13 points, 14 rebounds), Matias (11 points, three assists, two steals), and Natinga (11 points) came up big with Akowe limited by foul trouble.
“Ang biggest question ko sa kanila lagi is, ‘Who’s gonna step up?’ So this game, very evident. Nag step-up si Mot for Jid [Locsin], nag step-up si Miekho for Mac [Alfanta], then si Miguel nag step-up for Collins. So siguro kung meron mang ike-credit dito sa game na ‘to, sila ‘yon,” head coach Kevin De Castro said.
All thanks to mentor’s mentor
At the same time, De Castro made sure to give flowers to Jeff Napa, the Bulldogs' current shot-caller who once led the Bullpups to four championships.
According to De Castro, Napa never wavered in having his back even after their 20-point blowout loss to University of Santo Tomas to end the eliminations - blocking them of an automatic advance to the finals by virtue of a sweep.
“I want to thank my coaches also, most especially si coach Jeff, kasi all throughout the season, talagang grabe yung guidance niya,” he added.
Now, as NUNS trains its eyes on yet another championship chase in their 11th title series out of the last 12, De Castro urged his wards to use each and every loss and lesson as motivation.
“Hindi pa tapos yung story namin this season, so sabi ko sa kanila, ito yung time para ma-pay back natin yung mga pinagdaanan natin. Alam na nila kung ano yon, so we just have to be ready,” he said.
Over on the Adamson side, Mark Esperanza showed the most grit in delivering much-needed 24 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
Sanir Sajili was the only other Baby Falcon in double-digits, though, with 10 points and six rebounds, as they failed to defend the breakthrough crown they won last year.
The Scores
NUNS 64 - Palanca 12, Akowe 11, Natinga 11, Matias 8, Alfanta 6, Pillado 6, Solomon 4, Solomon 3, Usop 2, Cartel 0, Nepacena 0, Napa 0.
ADAMSON 62 - Esperanza 24, Sajili 10, Umali 7, De Jesus 5, Medina 4, Tumaneng 4, abayon 4, Perez 4, Murillo 0.
Quarters: 11-20, 25-33, 42-47, 64-62
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