ALL National University needed was a lengthy halftime talk to get its act together and rout University of Santo Tomas, 82-51, in the UAAP Season 84 men's basketball tournament on Thursday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Bulldogs coach Jeff Napa lit a fire under his wards from a lackadaisical first half and led to a demolition of the Growling Tigers in the third frame, 25 to nine.
Defense turned to offense for NU as it shot 11-of-17, a potent 65-percent, from that telling third quarter, while also holding UST to just a 4-of-20 clip as the Jhocson side enjoyed a 20-point lead, 60-40.
That lead ballooned to its final 31-point spread after a layup from former Growling Tiger Germy Mahinay in the game's waning minutes.
Shaun Ildefonso ignited the Bulldogs' third period pullaway scoring all of his 10 points in that stretch while also grabbing six rebounds and dishing out three assists.
Issa Gaye and the Bulldogs notch their third win in six games.
Reyland Torres led the balanced NU attack with 12 points, while rookie Jake Figueroa had 11 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks as all but two of the 16 players Napa deployed in the game scored at least two points.
"Big win for us pero we have to move forward," said Napa. "There's no time to celebrate kasi may kailangan pa kaming tapusing trabaho. At least after a loss to Ateneo, we bounced back with a statement win na madadala namin versus UE sa Sabado."
NU moved up to solo fourth place with its 3-3 record, while dealing UST back-to-back losses and sent it to a 2-4 card.
Rookie Nic Cabanero paced the Growling Tigers with 11 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals, while Sherwin Concepcion had 10 on 2-of-7 shooting from threes in the defeat.
The scores:
NU 82 - Torres 12, Figueroa 11, Ildefonso 10, Joson 9, Yu 7, Clemente 6, Galinato 6, Enriquez 5, Minerva 4, Malonzo 4, Felicilda 2, Gaye 2, Mahinay 2, Flores 2, Manansala 0, Tibayan 0.
UST 51 - Cabanero 11, Concepcion 10, Manalang 8, Fontanilla 5, Garing 4, Herrera 3, Santos 2, Manaytay 2, M. Pangilinan 2, Mantua 2, Samudio 2, Ando 0, Canoy 0, Gomez de Liano 0, Gesalem 0, Yongco 0.
Quarterscores: 16-13; 35-31; 60-40; 82-51.
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