The National University Bulldogs snapped its two-game losing streak with a 75-68 win over the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers Sunday afternoon at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
J-jay Alejandro bounced back from a scoreless outing against the Adamson Soaring Falcons, scoring 16 points and grabbing six rebounds this game.
The Bulldogs displayed great offensive efficiency in the first three quarters, the one thing the team lacked in its last two outings. Behind the troika of Alfred Aroga, Matt Salem, and Alejandro the NU lead grew to as high as 25 points, 69-44, late in the third quarter.
However, the cagers from Jhocson Street became complacent and let their guard down.
“It was an ugly fourth quarter for us. For some reason we lost our aggressiveness, we became tentative,” NU head coach Eric Altamirano rued.
The season hosts went on a 16-0 rally with fifth year student-athletes Louie Vigil and Jon Sheriff leading the charge. A split on the stripe by William Afoakwah and a basket by Vigil cut the lead to single-digits, 69-60, with 2:58 remaining.
Turnovers became a problem for National U, committing the majority of its 27 turnovers in the final 10 minutes of the game. Moreover, the Bulldogs missed their first 11 shots from the field during that frame.
A floater by Salem gave NU their first field goal of the final frame but the Growling Tigers continued to surge. A basket by Marvin Lee further sliced the lead further down to seven with a minute left in the game.
The fatigue of rallying back was sorely felt by UST in the end game, succumbing to unforced turnovers to stop their comeback attempt. Free throws by Alejandro with 53 seconds remaining sealed the win for the Bulldogs.
“We played like we were playing not to lose. We had a big lead but we didn’t know how to manage it,” Altamirano furthered. “That’s a lesson for a young team like us, we have to work on finishing games.”
“Buti nalang may pondo kami nung first half. We have to work on finishing strong,” Alejandro added.
Salem added a double-double for NU with 14 points – knocking down three triples in the game to go along with 10 rebounds.
“He’s a stretch four so he gives us a lot of spacing to help out Alfred,” the UAAP champion head coach remarked about Salem. “At the same time, he provides rebounding from us. Aside from Matthew Aquino and Alfred, maliit na kami. Malaking bagay yung rebounding niya.”
Louie Vigil was the high point man of the Growling Tigers with 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the field. Sheriff added 16 markers on a highly efficient 8-of-12 clip. Afoakwah grabbed 15 of the 47 rebounds of the Growling Tigers.
The NU Bulldogs (3-2) take on the UP Fighting Maroons (1-4) on Saturday, October 1 at 2:00pm. The UST Growling Tigers (2-3) play on the same game day, facing the FEU Tamaraws (3-2) at 4:00pm.
The Scores:
NU (75) – Alejandro 16, Salem 14, Salim 11, Aroga 10, Diputado R 8, Aquino 5, Mosqueda 5, Gallego 2, Diputado C 2, Abatayo 2, Morido 0, Sinclair 0, Pate 0, Yu 0, Rangel 0.
UST (68) – Vigil 17, Sheriff 16, Lee 8, Afoakwah 7, Subido 6, Lao 5, Basibas 4, Macasaet 2, Caunan 2, Huang 1, Faundo 0, De Guzman 0, Arana 0.
Quarterscores: 27-15, 46-29, 69-49, 75-68.
