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UAAP: NU bounces back, deals UST first loss of the season


Bobby Ray Parks (L) made some nifty plays against the UST defense, en route to 20 points. KC Cruz

(Updated 7:02pm) The National University Bulldogs handed the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers their first loss of UAAP Season 76, 71-67, Wednesday, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

[Review the play-by-play of this game here]

The Tigers were playing catch-up for most of the game, but things got worse when Jeric Teng hurt his shoulder late in the first half. The fifth-year swingman did not return and the Bulldogs imposed their will on UST in the third quarter, going up by as much as 12 points before the Tigers took advantage of National U's foul trouble in the final frame.

Trailing 68-62 with 11.3 ticks remaining, Kevin Ferrer drew contact on a three-point try. The UST High School product split the first two and intentionally missed the third. Ed Daquioag grabbed the rebound and was fouled anew on the put-back try, and he too split, 68-64. Troy Rosario secured the rebound and was fouled, making both charities. With four seconds left, a desperation heave by Ferrer fell through, 70-67, leaving 1.8 seconds on the clock for National U.

The Bulldogs triggered the ball to Robin Rono, who was hastily sent to the line. Rono calmly sank the first and missed the second, allowing time to expire and formalize the win.

National U, 2-1, clawed their way to a four-way tie at second place with the Tigers, the DLSU Archers and the Adamson Falcons. The FEU Tamaraws remain the sole undefeated squad at 3-0.

Bobby Ray Parks led his team with 20 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals. Emmanuel Mbe notched a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Troy Rosario tallied 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.

"I kept telling the boys to keep their composure especially towards the end," said Bulldogs head coach Eric Altamirano. "I think that's on of the things we have to work on this season, protecting our lead and keeping composed."

"We knew we'd have a hard time with UST because UST will rebound," said Altamirano. "We knew that's the game of UST, i-phi-phyiscal ka to get you out of your focus." He cited their performance on the boards as one of their keys to winning, as they out-rebounded the Tigers, 46-45.

Offensive rebounding kept the Tigers alive early on, but they got separation after poor fouls by the Bulldogs. Ed Daquioag got an and-one off a jumper, and Jeric Teng drew contact on a three-point attempt for two charities. Kevin Ferrer chipped in from long distance a few moments later, 13-8.

Reigning back-to-back MVP Parks stopped the rally, converting a fast break bucket with four minutes to play. National U remained aggressive going to the rim, as Parks and Troy Rosario combined for eight in a 14-2 run to end the quarter, 22-15.

UST erased the lead in the second quarter as four different players scored from three-point territory to build a 14-4 run. But it wasn't long before Dennice Villamor and Gelo Alolino replied from deep, alternating with drives by William Porter and Jean Mbe to forge ahead anew, 37-29.

With a minute and a half to play, Jeric Teng broke loose for a fast break basket. But on the next play he was shoved from behind by Jeoff Javillonar, sending him to the ground and hurting his right shoulder in the process. Teng watched from the bench as both teams went scoreless until the halftime buzzer, 37-31.

National U shot 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) through the first half, while the Tigers were 11-of-35 (31.4 percent), though the latter made 6-of-12 three-pointers against the Bulldogs' 3-of-8 (37.5 percent). UST also led in turnover points, 8-0.

Glenn Khobuntin (C) looks to pass out of the swarm of UST defenders. KC Cruz

The Bulldogs began to pull away in Teng's absence in the third quarter, as Mbe and Parks delivered huge plays to foil the Tigers' attempts. Mbe and Alolino hooked up for an alley-oop, while Parks nailed a triple and a breakaway slam in consecutive possessions. The pair would go on to score all but two of the Bulldogs' 17 third quarter points.

With Karim Abdul in foul trouble and the Bulldogs leading 50-40 with under two minutes to play, a tip-in by Kevin Ferrer ended a four-minute drought from the field for UST. The third-year forward held down the fort for the Tigers, keeping them at 54-44 after three quarters.

The Tigers clawed their way back in the fourth, as a Clark Bautista trey gave them a huge lift early on. Despite several back-and-forth baskets off turnovers between both teams, UST forced their way into the penalty situation just before the halfway mark of the quarter, and Ferrer split his charities to make it a 59-54 game.

Mbe and Parks drained consecutive jumpers with under four minutes remaining, and the pair weathered sub-par free throw shooting by the Tigers, 65-58. NU finally hit the penalty situation with under two minutes to play, though Parks and Alolino blanked both their attempts. More Bulldogs blanked from the line and those misses gave them a scare when Ferrer was fouled on a three-point try with 11.3 ticks to go, 68-62.

The Bulldogs shot 24-of-58 (41.4 percent) on field goals in contrast to UST's 17-of-61 (27.9 percent). Parks and Mbe contributed 13-of-26, while the rest of the team went 11-of-32.

UST went 15-of-24 from the charity stripe in the fourth period for a 25-of-37 clip overall (67.6 percent), while the Bulldogs were 6-of-14 in the fourth for 18-of-33 overall (54.4 percent).

Kevin Ferrer top-scored for UST with 20 points and seven rebounds despite a 5-of-15 mark from the floor. Ed Daquioag added 13 points and six rebounds. Karim Abdul gathered 12 boards but was kept to six points on 2-of-8 shooting, while Jeric Teng registered seven points and three assists in 17 minutes.

Teng did not return to the game afterwards, sitting behind the bench, and is questionable for their next outing. - CLP, GMA News


The scores:

NU 17: Parks 20, Mbe 17, Rosario 12, Alolino 8, Villamor 5, Javillonar 3, Rono 2, Porter 2, Khobuntin 2, De Guzman 0, Alejandro 0

UST 67: Ferrer 20, Daquioag 13, Bautista 9, Teng 7, Mariano 7, Abdul 6, Lo 3, Pe 2, So 0, Hainga 0

Quarter scoring: 22-15, 37-31, 54-44, 71-67
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