NU holds on to No. 1, with UP nipping at their tails
Within National University, everyone and his Bulldog was worried about how the team’s two losses came from just one team.
On Sunday, the defending champions gave them reason to remain wary.
As the Bulldogs continued biting down on the No. 1 position in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament, University of the Philippines continued nipping at their tails, rising to solo second after a pair of key doubleheaders at UST Quadricentennial Pavilion on Sunday.
“Credit goes to my team—it’s not about me anymore. They figured it out and made it happen,” NU coach Jeff Napa said after his team’s 65-50 rout of slumping Ateneo in the early men’s match.
NU chopped down an eight-point Ateneo lead midway in the third with a 25-4 run bridging the final two periods, where Jake Figueroa scored 11 of his 13 points.
PJ Palacielo added all seven of his points there to push NU ahead for good.
“They showed their leadership,” Napa said, praising Figueroa, Kean Enriquez and Janjan Jumamoy. “I need someone to really step up as a leader, and they delivered.”
In the earlier game, UP extended its winning run to six in its last seven games to rise to 6-3 after manhandling Far Eastern U, 89-75.
After starting the season on back-to-back losses, the reigning kings are now in solo second—just a game behind NU.
The Bulldogs are at 7-2, with their losses both coming against the Maroons.
And UP showed why with another dominating performance against the Tamaraws.
“We really prepared for FEU,” said UP coach Goldwin Monteverde. “One thing we did well in this game was moving the ball better as a team. Everyone is slowly understanding their role, and I’m really happy to see that we’re improving and growing together.”
UP’s offense was humming from the start, and though FEU opened the second half with a 10-3 run to close the gap, the Maroons responded and extinguished any hope of a Tamaraws reversal.
