Gab Delos Reyes continued to show his fine form, leading University of the East to a 72-59 victory over inaugural champion National University Nazareth School to clinch the first Final Four spot in the UAAP Season 87 Junior High School Basketball Tournament on Sunday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
The 16-year-old forward, a transferee from Lourdes School QC, delivered his second consecutive double-double performance, finishing with 16 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, and three blocks to keep UE’s undefeated streak alive at 10 games.
After a narrow 80-78 win over the UST Tiger Cubs last Wednesday, UE’s resilience was tested – not only to maintain their perfect record, but also to end the Bullpups’ three-game win streak dating back to October 5.
“NU fought hard as expected. As I’ve said before, the second round is different, really different,” said UE head coach Andrew Estrella.
“Hopefully my boys will realize that we cannot play for just one half only. Of course, it’s a game of adjustments with their game plan, but we prepared well, especially in the fourth quarter.”
Unlike their commanding 89-64 first-round victory over NUNS last September 28, UE had to dig deep this time to secure the win.
A three-pointer by Nick Pena early in the fourth quarter tied the game at 51-all, but the Junior Warriors surged with a 12-2 run to establish a comfortable 62-53 lead with 4:42 left on the clock.
Zui Urea tried to keep the Bullpups in contention with a late triple. However, back-to-back inside baskets from Enrico Bungar and a layup from Brian Orca with 1:41 remaining sealed the Junior Warriors’ 10th consecutive win.
“It’s very important that we’ve been experiencing these kinds of situations to prepare us for the end. At least we’re becoming more composed and resilient, and there’s maturity developing after each game. We need to learn and experience this,” Estrella added.
Mav Mesina orchestrated UE’s offense with 11 points and nine assists, adding five steals, two assists, and one block. Goodluck Okebata also contributed with 10 points, six rebounds, and one steal.
Jolo Pascual chipped in with eight points, four rebounds, three steals, two assists, and one block, while Neil Garcia added six points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Looking ahead, UE aims for its 11th straight win against a struggling Ateneo de Manila University team on Saturday, November 9, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The loss dropped NUNS to a 5-5 record, still in fourth place but now one game behind UST for the third seed.
Main scorer Chester Tulabut was limited to 12 points on 6-of-21 shooting, though he still added nine rebounds, four steals, and three assists.
Nick Pena also had 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting, with five rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
David Sabareza’s all-around performance went to waste despite posting eight points, five assists, three rebounds, and two steals, while Yujin Pena contributed seven points, six rebounds, and one assist.
The Bullpups have 10 days to regroup before taking on the Tiger Cubs in a game with playoff implications on Wednesday, November 13, at the same UST venue.
The Scores:
UE 72 – Delos Reyes 16, Mesina 11, Okebata 10, Pascual 8, Garcia 6, Bungar 6, Orca 6, Oraa 3, Ferreros 3, Panganiban 3, Dalosa 3.
NUNS 59 – Tulabut 12, N. Pena 12, Sabareza 8, Y. Pena 7, Urea 6, Vitug 6, Tadeo 4, Quinto 2, Khobuntin 2, Reroma 0, Toring 0, Gutierrez 0.
Quarterscores: 8-14, 22-27, 49-48, 72-59.
