NU escapes La salle in ot
MANILA, Philippines — With Jake Figueroa and Patrick Yu as the lead forces, National U scraped past La Salle in overtime, 80-77, and snatched the solo second spot in the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament yesterday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Figueroa and Yu took turns in delivering the goods in the clutch as the Bulldogs jumped to 4-1, within striking distance of unbeaten University of the Philippines (5-0), which dealt them their lone loss so far.
Figueroa finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds highlighted by the game-tying trey in regulation as Yu poured five of his 12 points in the last two minutes of extra time.
Then there were other players with key contributions in the NU cause – Jolo Manansala with 13 points, Omar John with 10, and Kean Baclaan, Mike Malonzo and Steve Nash Enriquez with seven each.
“Ang pakialam ko is how the players perform. Lalo na when we lost against UP, ‘yun yung pinaka concern ko. We have to be competitive against big teams,” said NU mentor Jeff Napa.
And the Bulldogs showed that competitiveness up to the last second, even in the jaws of defeat, versus the Archers.
Staring at a 64-67 deficit, Figueroa hit a tightly-contested triple from the right baseline to tie the count with still 48 seconds left before Mike Phillips missed two free throws that set the stage for an extra period.
As both teams traded blows, Yu rose to the occasion by banking in a triple from the left elbow and a jumper at the foul line, providing enough breathing room for the Bulldogs with a 74-69 lead until the buzzer.
Not even the late triple of Evan Nelle mattered for La Salle as NU held on to catch another big fish after slaying reigning champion Ateneo in the opener.
Kevin Quiambao’s 25-point, 10-rebound outing went for naught for La Salle which slid to 3-2.
In the second match, Adamson (3-2) squandered a 15-point lead but recovered to repel University of the East (2-3), 72-65.
Ced Manzano had 13 points and five rebounds while Matthew Montebon added the same output marked by the dagger trey in the waning seconds to spoil Rey Remogat’s 27-point eruption for UE.
