Phill News Entertainment – Phill News
MANILA, Philippines — The National University Bulldogs weathered a late three-pointer to beat the Ateneo Blue Eagles 78-68 on Saturday night at the Mall of Asia Arena and return to the list of victories in the Season 87 men’s basketball tournament, setting up the UAAP.
NU finally snapped its four-game losing streak and entered the second round of the tournament with a 2-5 record.
Kenshin Padrones had the best performance of his young career so far, finishing with 18 points and six rebounds. Jake Figueroa had 15 points, seven rebounds, and four dimes.
With the Blue Eagles trailing by 14 points, Ateneo’s Andrew Bongo started the comeback in the final quarter. He made a couple of 3-pointers to cut the lead to seven, 59-52, with 8:02 left.
A layup by Figueroa stopped the deficit, but a Sean Tuano and one play kept the Blue Eagles within striking distance.
Padrones answered with a two-pointer, but Kyle Gamber answered with a three-pointer on the other side to cut the deficit to five, 58-63, with 6:16 left.
Ateneo fell short, but Padrones, Figueroa, and Steve Nash-Enriquez teamed up for an 8-0 run to put NU back in double-digit territory, 71-58, with 2:53 left.
Jared Bahey went on a personal 8-3 run to cut the Blue Eagles’ lead to 74-66, but Jolo Manansala’s floater with 1:07 left in the game kept the Katipunan team at bay.
A Shawn Quitevis putback with under a minute left cut the lead to eight points, but it was Ateneo’s final field goal.
The game was close through the first two quarters, but NU began to pull away in the third quarter behind strong plays from Enriquez, Figueroa, and Reinhard Jumamoy.
But Ateneo wasn’t going to give up without a fight, making 7 of 10 3-pointers in the second half.
Enriquez finished with 9 points and 2 assists and Manansala finished with 8 points for the Bulldogs.
Bongo finished with 17 points and 4 rebounds on 6-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-10 3-pointers.
Bahai added 15 markers and four rebounds but sank 5 of 16 shots from the field.
The loss for the Blue Eagles leaves them with a 1-6 record heading into the final seven games of the season, their worst start in the Tab Baldwin era.
