MONBERT Arong sank a jumper with 3.7 seconds left to lift Far Eastern University to a 57-56 win over National University on Sunday in the UAAP Season 79 basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Arong faked off Alfred Aroga before hitting the corner jumper as FEU put away its fifth straight win by the slimmest of margins to improve its win-loss record to 6-2.
Aroga missed his attempt in NU’s final possession.
The Tamaraws, who scored a 78-75 win over NU on Wednesday, erased an 11-point deficit to take the win and complete a sweep of the season series against the Bulldogs.
“NU made good adjustments for today’s game. They made it really hard for us to execute. They made adjustments na nahirapan kami to defend them,” said FEU coach Nash Racela.
Raymar Jose had 14 points and 12 rebounds while Arong finished with 13 points.
Aroga was the lone double-digit scorer for the Bulldogs with 22 points while also grabbing 13 rebounds and blocking three shots.
J-Jay Alejandro, who scored 31 against the Tamaraws in their first-round encounter, was limited to seven points as NU fell to 4-4.
NU was up 50-40 before FEU scored 10 unanswered points bridging the third and fourth quarter.
Alejandro and Joshua Sinclair split their shots from the stripe for a 56-55 lead, misses that cost the Bulldogs in the end game.
The scores:
FEU 57 — Jose 14, Arong 13, Comboy 7, Trinidad 6, Escoto 5, Dennison 4, Holmqvist 3, Denila 2, Ebona 2, Orizu 1, Tuffin 0, Bayquin 0, Roxas 0.
NU 56 — Aroga 22, R. Diputado 8, Alejandro 7, Gallego 6, Sinclair 5, Morido 2, Pate 2, Go 2, Salim 1, Rangel 1, Salem 0, C. Diputado 0, Mosqueda 0, Yu 0.
Quarterscores: 19-19; 30-32; 45-50; 57-56.