NU spoils Ateneo's twice-to-beat dream via 96-88 win

The National University (NU) Bulldogs spoiled the twice-to-beat dream of the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the stepladder semifinal format of 70th UAAP men’s basketball tournament after they defeated the latter in overtime, 96-88, on Saturday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. Although they are already out for a semifinal hunt, the win was big for the Bulldogs because it was the first time in seven years that they were able to defeat an Ateneo squad in the basketball tournament. The victory was also huge because this snapped Ateneo’s six-game winning streak and broke the chances by the Katipunan-based squad to snatch the Number 2 seeding in the stepladder format of the semifinal round of the UAAP basketball tournament. With the loss, Ateneo now has to face archrival De La Salle Green Archers in a play-off on Thursday at the Cuneta Astrodome to determine who will get the Number 2 slot. Both Ateneo and De La Salle are tied in the men’s standings after the elimination round with a 9-5 win-loss card. The loser of the game will then face the winner of the FEU and UST play-off on Monday at the Araneta Coliseum for the right to face the Number 2 seed in the stepladder format. Outside hit man Jonathan Fernandez was named best player after he scored a game high 24 points (16 points coming from the outside) and grabbed four rebounds for his team. Point guard Jonathan Jahnke, who played perhaps his best game for the season, drilled 15 points, grabbed five rebounds, issued three assists and had four steals, to help his team to the all important win, which is their six in 14 games. Jhanke’s value to the team became evident in the overtime period when he scored seven-straight points to give his team a comfortable 80-73 advantage. After a turnover by Ateneo, main man and MVP contender Edwin Asoro made a lay-up after collaring a rebound off a miss by Jhanke to give NU a nine-point lead, 82-73, 2:30 left in overtime. Black immediately called a time-out and berated his players for throwing their passes and not handling the ball well. After the time-out, Tiu, who was miserable for the game, drilled an outside shot to cut NU’s to six, 82-76. However, after two offensive rebounds by NU, Fernandez plunged the dagger on Ateneo after he drilled back-to-back three point shots to up their lead to 12, 88-76, less than a minute left in the game, sending the big NU contingent in a frenzy. NU’s biggest lead came in the early minutes of the fourth period when they erected a nine-point lead at 54-45. However, Ateneo then came alive and wrested the upper hand at 61-59 after they unleashed a 14-7 run, less than three minutes left in regulation. The two teams then traded baskets from there with Ateneo having the chance to win the game with a three-point lead at 71-68 entering the final minute of the game. After a split from the charity line to pegged the score at 71-69, NU then scored on a basket courtesy of a follow-up shot by Asoro after a 24-shot clock violation by Ateneo to put the score at 71-all with 21 seconds left. Black then called a time-out to set-up a play for Tiu. He, however, missed on an open shot from the three-point range to send the game into over time. Ateneo had a nine-point lead at the half, 31-22, as they were able to contain the outside snipping of NU. But the third quarter saw a different NU side when they were able to wrest the upper hand at 49-43 due to outstanding shooting from the three-point range, going 5/6 there. The Blue Eagles, meanwhile, were limited to just 12 points by the Bulldogs in the third period. - GMANews.TV