At rock bottom, National University staged the mother of all upsets in the UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Men’s Basketball Tournament, dismantling the University of the Philippines in wire-to-wire fashion, 67-47, on Sunday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
This victory, which broke a three-game skid for the Bulldogs, kept their flickering Final Four hopes alive, bringing their record to 3-8 and tying them with the Ateneo Blue Eagles for seventh place, with three games remaining.
NU is two games behind fourth-place University of Santo Tomas, which stands at 5-6.
The win denied UP the chance to clinch a twice-to-beat edge and marked a complete reversal from their first-round matchup, where the Fighting Maroons had dominated, 89-62.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
“Finally nakuha namin yung panalo namin sa second round. Finally, at least sa araw ng patay, nabuhay lahat ng mga player ko kahit papaano. They delivered kung ano yung kailangan naming gawin, then they really enjoyed kung ano yung ginagawa namin talaga,” said Bulldogs head coach Jeff Napa.
NU surged to a 24-8 advantage at the end of the first quarter, thanks to strong performances from Lenard Santiago and Patrick Yu off the bench, while UP struggled with their shooting, going 3-of-15 from the field and 1-of-6 from the free-throw line.
While the Fighting Maroons have become known for rallying back from slow starts, the Bulldogs ensured they wouldn’t have to contend with that this game, controlling the pace and holding UP to just 47 points—its lowest output since Season 79, when they lost 51-49 to Far Eastern University on September 25, 2016.
Yu connected on five triples to finish with 17 points, while Jake Figueroa added 11 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
“Sabi ni Coach Jeff sa amin mag-enjoy lang kami, alam naman natin ‘yung UP is a strong team, better team, kaya thankful kami na nanalo kami,” said Figueroa.
PJ Palacielo contributed nine points, and Lenard Santiago, the UCAL Season 5 Finals MVP when he was still with CEU, added eight points while posting a game-high plus-20 in his 17 minutes and 23 seconds on the floor.
Up next for NU is a matchup against UST on Wednesday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
Aldous Torculas was the lone player in double figures for the Fighting Maroons, scoring 13 points as UP slipped to 9-2, ending their three-game winning streak.
JD Cagulangan struggled, shooting just 3-of-13 from the field for eight points while committing nine turnovers. As a team, the Fighting Maroons shot only 26.2 percent from the field, making just 17 of their 65 attempts.
This was also the Bulldogs’ first win over the Fighting Maroons since October 12, 2022, when they won 80-75, ending a five-game losing streak against coach Dondon Monteverde’s squad.
The 30 turnovers committed by the Fighting Maroons were the most since coach Goldwin Monteverde took over in UAAP Season 84 (2022).
UP looks to rebound next Sunday against De La Salle University.
The Scores:
NU 67 – Yu 17, Figueroa 11, Palacielo 9, Santiago 8, Lim 5, Manansala 4, Perciano 4, Tulabut 4, Jumamoy 3, Garcia 2, Padrones 0, Parks 0, Enriquez 0, Francisco 0.
UP 47 – Torculas 13, Cagulangan 8, Millora-Brown 4, Briones 4, Fortea 3, Torres 3, Abadiano 2, Bayla 2, Belmonte 2, Lopez 2, Stevens 2, Alarcon 2, Ududo 0, Alter 0.
Quarterscores: 24-8, 34-20, 55-31, 67-47
