Bulldogs keep Warriors winless in UAAP Season 73

After National University suffered a heartbreaking 76-72 loss to Far Eastern U last week, coach Eric Gonzales made a "slit-throat" gesture inside the Bulldogs’ dugout. "Kill" is the message Gonzales wanted to convey to his NU crew. "Because (I) want them to have a killer instinct every game." The Bulldogs, who are still looking to develop their killer instinct, leaned on a strong start then overcame UE’s several comeback attempts to hack out a 70-63 win over the Red Warriors in the 73rd UAAP men’s basketball tournament on Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum. "We wanted to show that we can play against (FEU) because they are the title contenders this year," said Gonzales. "Too bad we lost but we moved on and used that motivation for this game." Behind rookie big men Glenn Khobuntin and Emmanuel Mbe along with veteran Mervin Baloran, the Sampaloc-based squad led by as many as 20 points then staved off UE’s final push, led once more by do-it-all guard Paul Lee, to secure the victory. NU climbed up to an even 2-2 slate assuring a tie for fourth place with the loser of the Ateneo-La Salle contest that is being played as of posting time. Khobuntin, a prized recruit from Letran, had the best game of his young collegiate career with 13 points and five rebounds. The former Squire, who also won several NCAA medals as a shot put thrower, only did it in 20 minutes. Mbe posted his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds while Baloran added 11 points and seven boards. It was NU’s first win against UE for the first time in 14 matches. The last time the Bulldogs defeated the Warriors was on September 7, 2002 when they pulled off a 69-68 victory against a Recto-based squad that was then led by current PBA superstars James Yap, Ronald Tubid, Paul Artadi and KG Canaleta. UE has reached the Final Four in each of the next eight seasons beating NU by an average winning margin of 11 points. "I have no idea about that record. I just wanted to win," said Gonzales. NU led 23-9 at the end of the first period highlighted by Kokoy Hermosisima's eight markers. The Bulldogs stretched it further to 20, 47-27, early in the third quarter and appeared headed for a convincing victory. But UE’s scoring duo of Paul Lee and James Martinez tried to put the Warriors back in the game when they trimmed the deficit to four, 59-55, on Lee's three-point play off a foul from Hermosisima with 4:19 left in the game. Both teams traded baskets with an Erwin Duran lay up again moved UE back to four, 61-57. Mbe then scored on a slam off a missed shot then Jewel Ponferrada had his own lay up for a six-point cushion before the rest of the Bulldogs made five of the last seven points from the foul line. "During one game against La Salle, we let them make threes in the dying seconds," Gonzales said. "It was the same thing that happened today but luckily we made our free throws." Lee and Martinez tallied 18 points each for UE, which continued with its worst start in recent years. Lee, who had 27 points in a loss to Far Eastern University on Thursday, shot 7-of-16 from the field and added seven rebounds, three assists and three steals but had eight turnovers. - JVP, GMANews.TV