After a two-game skid, Shaun Ildefonso and his teammates from National University finally returned to winning ways in the UAAP Season 84 Men’s Basketball Tournament with a 73-68 win over Far Eastern University, Saturday, at the closed-door SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The result was a welcome respite since NU encountered tough losses to De La Salle University and University of the Philippines, which could have demoralized its campaign this year. To get the victory on Saturday, though, Ildefonso and company had to withstand rookie guard RJ Abarrientos’ 33-point explosion.
“Sabi namin talaga sumosobra na tong si RJ. Alam mo yun? Thirty-three points,” said the former Ateneo Blue Eagle as Abarrientos was locked down to just three points and one field goal in crunch time.
“Sabi ko, ‘Tama na yan bro. Masyado na yan.’ The kid can really play but napansin namin na once we shut him down, tapos yung laro. Sa amin na talaga. Mag-shift sa side namin.
“Sabi ni Coach Jeff, magfour-on-four na lang. Deny all niyo na si RJ. Yun lang. Yung lang ginawa namin sa huli.”
Following an extended off-season, the Bulldogs are parading rookies such as Janjan Felicilda, Reyland Torres, Steve Nash Enriquez, and Jake Figueroa. The newcomers have provided a lot of spunk to a team that only won two fixtures back in Season 82.
For Ildefonso, his young teammates’ initiative to take responsibility early in their NU careers has helped push the team forward. As the saying goes, there is nowhere to go but up, and these guys will simply grow from here.
“Masasabi ko lang, when we started training, sobrang kapal ng mukha nila, which is a good thing. Walang rookie-rookie sa kanila. When they came to play for coach Jeff (Napa) and for NU, go hard eh. I feel that’s what we need,” said the 6-foot-2 second generation cager, who had 13 points and six rebounds against FEU.
“Hindi kami ganun ka-talented. Hindi kami ganun katangkad but once we play, makikipagpalitan talaga ng mukha. Yung mga rookies namin, sobrang vital sila to our success this season. Hopefully, mag-produce pa sila. They can contribute more and maganda takbuhin namin this season.”
NU looks to build on this result with another win. Next on their horizon is the small issue of going up against defending champions Ateneo de Manila University. Dave is as lethal a scorer as Abarrientos.
The challenge may be tough but the Bulldogs are up for it.
For Shaun, though, is the subplot of him going up against his younger brother Dave, who has been a revelation for the Blue Eagles after his transfer to them in the off-season. The game will be a difficult 40 minutes and he is purely focused on the task ahead.
“Hindi ko iniisip yun. Iniisip namin NU vs Ateneo. Siyempre, magkapatid kami but once we step on that court. Wala munang kapatid-kapatid,” he said as he added jokingly.
“Hindi makakakita ng bola sa amin yun. Yun lang.”
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