FilOil: Bulldogs show no mercy, rip apart Wildcats

The National University Bulldogs recorded their first win of the FilOil Flying V Premier Cup by throttling the Holy Trinity Wildcats, 106-67, on Friday at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

JJ Alejandro scored 14 points while Troy Rosario added 13 and seven rebounds. Gelo Alolino, who sat out the entire fourth quarter, tallied 12 points, three rebounds and six assists. 

"Marami akong nagustuhan," said NU head coach Eric Altamirano. "We didn't play very well in the first half but what I like about the boys is that they were able to respond well in the third quarter, and they were able to regroup and get their game back."
 

The Bulldogs pulled away by as much as 42 points from the GenSan team after forging a 31-31 deadlock in the second quarter. NU guard Reden Celda powered a 34-11 scoring surge in the third period, giving them a 29-point headway going to the fourth. The game marked the first 100-point game in the tournament.

"Nung first half totally wala kaming lamang sa kanila. Siguro parang boxing, tinantya lang namin sila. Nag-regroup na lang kami," said Alejandro.

NU lorded over the glass, grabbing 44 rebounds to the Wildcats' 24. The Bulldogs also recorded 10 second-chance points and 16 points off 23 HTC turnovers
 

The game was knotted at 4-4 early but the Bulldogs blitzed to a 9-0 run, prompting Holy Trinity head coach Pol Torrijos to call for time, 13-4. The Wildcats' went on a drought offensively, scoring only at the 3:30 mark after a jumper from Dave Masaglang, who had at that point, scored all of his team's points, 15-6. National U closed out the quarter leading by seven, 17-10.

 

National U led by as much as 11 early in the second canto, owing to fluid rotations and interior scoring, 23-12. The referees slapped Tristan Perez with a technical foul for second motion after Perez slammed Kevin Pragados, which made it a 25-19 game after the free throws. The Wildcats then scored eight straight after long-range bombs from Yusop and Landicho, 31-31.

 

The Bulldogs went on a 12-3 run after Coach Altamirano pressed for time, 43-36. The UAAP team ended the first half with a 45-36 first half lead.

 

The men in blue and gold stormed out to a 15-6 run within four minutes of the third frame with HTC struggling to put points on the board, 60-42. A timeout did no good for HTC as NU went on a 17-2 run, spearheaded by three triples from NU guard Celda, pushing the lead to 77-44. The Wildcats trailed by 29 heading to the last ten minutes, 79-50.

 

By the time the Bulldogs had pushed the lead to 30, Coach Altamirano emptied his bench, 88-56. The younger players refused to let up and employed a running game which upped the lead to 42 points, before the final score was arranged.

 

The Bulldogs, coming off a training camp in Tagaytay, will be seeing plenty of action in a short period of time in this tournament. NU (1-0) will go against the San Sebastian Golden Stags (1-2) next Friday, May 16 at 4pm, while the Wildcats (0-1) are on the first game of a back-to-back, as they are slated to face the Stags tomorrow at 2:15pm, at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan. - JDL, GMA News


The scores:

HTC 67 - Masaglang 31, Yusop 10, Landicho 9, Batiller 8, Pragados 6, Desaville 5, Roxas 4, Polistico 4, Mahaling 2, Pepito 2, Lape 2, Etoundi 0

 

Quarter scoring: 17-10, 45-36, 79-50, 106-67