UP edges NU for sixth win, lands back at fourth spot

The UP Fighting Maroons seem to be on track in its Final Four bid after defeating the NU Bulldogs, 82-71, Saturday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, Rizal.

The Bulldogs stayed close with UP during the second half, with both teams making 22 points during the final period. The Diliman-based squad had the 11-point lead at the end of the third quarter, 60-49.

A second quarter domination by the Maroons — 23 points against the NU's 15 —widened their lead to 10 at the half, 40-30.

Bright Akhuetie topped the Maroons with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Gelo Vito listed a career-high 10 points.

NU rookie Dave Ildefonso led the pack of Bulldogs with 24 points, 22 of which were made during the Bulldogs' second half chase. Meanwhile, Josh Sinclair was the only other player who scored in double digits for NU with 13 points.

Now with their sixth win, UP is back in the upper half of the standings at fourth, while NU slides to 3-8.

#UAAPSeason81 standings as of November 3, 2018:

ADMU 9-2*
AdU 8-2
DLSU 7-4
UP 6-6
FEU 5-6
UST 5-6
NU 3-8
UE 1-10

*Clinched Final four slot | @jk_carandang

— GMA News (@gmanews) November 3, 2018

The Fighting Maroons will face UST next week, while the Bulldogs will play La Salle on Wednesday. — LA, GMA News

Scores:

UP (82): Akhuetie - 21, Desiderio - 12, De Liaño, Juan - 10, Vito - 10, Manzo - 8, Murell - 8, Prado - 6, Gozum - 4, De Liaño, Javi - 2, Dario - 1, Jaboneta - 0, Lim - 0, Spencer - 0, Tungcab -0.

NU (71): Ildefonso, D - 24, Sinclair - 13, Gallego - 9, Rike - 7, Ildefonso - 6, Salim - 6, Clemente - 5, Gaye - 1, Diputado - 0, Galinato - 0, Tibayan - 0, Yu - 0.