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NU Bulldogs win first UAAP men's basketball crown in 60 years
The NU Bulldogs broke their 60-year spell in UAAP men's basketball. KC Cruz
After 60 long years, the National University Bulldogs are the kings of UAAP basketball once again.
Using the tenacious defense that had become the team's trademark in the postseason, NU broke away in the third quarter en route to a 75-59 victory over Far Eastern University on Wednesday to give the Bulldogs the Season 77 men's basketball title, their first since 1954.
Finals Most Valuable Player Alfred Aroga led all scorers with a career-high 24 points along with 18 rebounds, while point guard Gelo Alolino finished with 12 points and five boards. Glenn Khobuntin and J-Jay Alejandro added 10 points apiece.
Mike Tolomia also scored 23 points, also a career-high, to lead the FEU effort, while Mac Belo tossed in 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. But they were the only players to score in double figures for the Tamaraws.
Tolomia waxed hot in the first quarter to pace the Tamaraws on a strong start with 11 points. But the Bulldogs calmly answered every run and snatched the lead toward the end of the period, 20-18, and never looked back.
NU ultimately pulled away in the third on a 10-0 run courtesy of Alolino and Rev Diputado. The Bulldogs mounted their biggest lead of the game with 2:13 left in the fourth, 70-54, and asserted their defensive might to ensure that the game was in the bag.
Ambitious program
Ambitious program
The championship victory capped the ambitious buildup of the NU basketball program that began shortly after the SM Group of Companies acquired majority ownership in the school in 2008. Prior to that, the Bulldogs were perennial cellar-dwellers in the UAAP, returning to the finals of the league only once since the school's lone championship.
Even with resources pouring in for NU, there was plenty of heartbreak along the way, with the team failing to win a playoff game in either of the past two years despite the presence of back-to-back Most Valuable Player winner Ray Parks.
This year, however, it was the turn of the Bulldogs to pull the rug out from more highly-touted opponents despite the departure of Parks. NU swept top seed Ateneo de Manila University in the semifinals, before rallying from a 1-0 deficit in the finals against FEU, winning the second and third games of the series. — JST, GMA News
