NATIONAL U took little to no time barking back from its extinguished winning streak with a 75-71 bounce back at the expense of University of Santo Tomas on Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Bulldogs leaned on their rough and ruthless frontcourt of Mo Diassana and Kenshin Padrones, who respectively dropped double-doubles of 16 points and 19 rebounds, as well as 13 points and 12 boards to keep their side in the Top 2 of the UAAP Season 89 standings.
The tamed Tigers shot themselves out of the game in the fourth quarter by sinking zero field goals for seven minutes and 23 seconds, missing a total of nine shots, six of them from beyond the arc.
Despite making the most of its sparse time for a comeback after finally getting the lid off the basket, the black-and-gold ultimately fizzled out due to its inability to rebound, despite inching to as close as two points in the dying seconds.
“Good win for us, siyempre kasi UST, 'di naman basta-basta eh,” head coach Jeff Napa said. “Isa sa contenders ang UST, good thing lumabas yung effort namin.”
“Inayos nila mindset nila, so hopefully, mabalik namin ulit kung ano nang gusto namin,” he added, as they rebounded from another loss to Ateneo the last time around.
Bulldogs on the boards
In all, NU collared 30 more boards than UST, and twice as many offensive rebounds to highlight how it made it a point to work harder than its opponents.
“Hindi na kasi pwede kami magpahinga na kung ano man eh. Kasi kami naman yung team na hindi naman kami ganong kalakas, hindi naman kami ganong kahina,” Napa said.
PJ Palacielo rounded out the impressive big man masterclass of the Bulldogs with 14 points and six rebounds.
The guards, of course, did their part, as Tebol Garcia wound up with 12 points despite missing 13 of his 18 shots and Reinhard Jumamoy endured a 2-for-10 outing from the field for his six markers.
The Tigers remained winless in the second round for a 4-5 standing, with Amiel Acido and Mark Llemit fronting their effort with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The Scores:
NU 75 – Diasanna 16, Palacielo 14, Padrones 13, Garcia 12, Jumamoy 6, Reyes 6, Francisco 5, Cartel 3, Alfanta 0, Miranda 0, Figueroa 0, Solomon 0, Serrano 0.
UST 71 – Acido 13, Llemit 12, Akowe 11, Chio 11, Porter 8, Buenaflor 6, Jumawan 5, Sevilla 3, Cañete 2, Danting 0, Alao 0, Manding 0.
Quarters: 24-18, 40-39, 57-57, 75-71
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