National University Nazareth School clinched the remaining semifinals berth in the UAAP Season 88 19-and-under boys’ 3×3 basketball tournament with a 21-18 reversal of Far Eastern University-Diliman on Saturday at Ayala Malls Manila Bay in Parañaque City.
Entering the final day of the elimination round of the tournament—supported by Wilson Philippines and Ayala Malls and sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas—the Bullpups were in a precarious position with a 3-3 record, just one game ahead of the UE Junior Warriors and the UPIS Fighting Maroons in the race for the final semifinals slot.
The Bullpups leaned on the hot shooting of Miekho Natinga and Siane Bouzina, with Natinga finishing with 10 points and Bouzina adding seven, to set up a semifinals clash against top-seeded UST Tiger Cubs on Sunday at 11:40 a.m.
The Tiger Cubs completed a seven-game sweep of the elimination round with a 21-16 win over the Fighting Maroons, as Jettlee Melano tallied eight points and nine rebounds.
In the other semifinal pairing, FEU-Diliman will take on De La Salle-Zobel.
UPIS, Ateneo, and UE ended up tied with identical 2-5 records, but the Maroons secured fifth place by tallying the highest total points among the three with 128, followed by the Blue Eagles with 120 and the Junior Warriors with 114.
Adamson finished last in the division with a 1-6 record.
In the 16-and-under division, DLSZ and UE secured the final two semifinals spots after closing out the elimination round with convincing wins.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
The Junior Archers, led by the seven points of Fonsie Mercado and six from Enzo Purugannan, eliminated the Baby Falcons with a 19-15 victory.
“I’m really proud of this team. We really fought as a team to get to the Final Four,” said Purugannan.
“We’re in good hands. The coaches really guided us to be here right now. We thank them for that,” he added, paying tribute to DLSZ head trainer Joshua Webb.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
Meanwhile, Mark Perdigon (8 points), Zion Aguilar (6 points), and James Mesa (5 points) powered the Junior Warriors to a 21-12 rout, eliminating the Bullpups.
“I’m really so happy with our last performances. At the start of the tournament, we were down. We talked as a team because this is just our first time playing 3×3. We were still adjusting to the rules. When we understood it, we used it to our advantage. But we are not done yet, we are out here to win the championship,” said Goodluck Okebata, the reigning Junior High School Boys’ 5-on-5 MVP.
UE will take on top seed FEU-D at 11 a.m., while DLSZ faces defending champion Ateneo at 11:20 a.m. in Sunday’s knockout semifinals.
UST was eliminated earlier by Ateneo by way of a 21-19 win with Sky Jazul knocking down the game-winner with 1:34 remaining.
UST (131 points), Adamson (126), and NUNS (124) all finished with 3-4 records while UPIS went winless.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
In the girls’ division, the Lady Bullpups gained a psychological edge over defending champions Junior Tigresses with a 19-10 victory to close out the elimination round.
KJ Badajos scored eight points in the win, while Zayden Rosano and Ruiza Olmos added five and four points, respectively.
The girls’ final is scheduled at 3:40 p.m. on Sunday.
The Junior Lady Archers (1-2) and the Blue Eagles (0-3) will face off in the girls’ third-place game at 1:40 p.m.
