At rock bottom, National University staged the mother of all upsets this UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Men’s Basketball Tournament, dismantling University of the Philippines in wire-to-wire fashion, 67-47, on Sunday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
With this three-game-skid-breaking triumph, the Bulldogs kept their flickering Final Four hopes alive at 3-8, tied with the Ateneo Blue Eagles for seventh with three games left. They are two games behind fourth-running University of Santo Tomas at 5-6.
This victory, which denied UP clinching a twice-to-beat edge this game, was a complete reversal of result from their first round matchup which the Fighting Maroons dominated, 89-62.
“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 rolled to a 24-8 advantage at the end of the first quarter as Lenard Santiago and Patrick Yu stepped up off the bench while UP could not make any shot, going 3-of-15 from the field and 1-of-6 from the free throw line.
While fighting back from slow starts have almost become a trademark for the Fighting Maroons, the Bulldogs made sure to not deal with it this game, controlling the pace of the match to hold UP to just 47 points – its lowest output since Season 79 in a 51-49 loss to Far Eastern University on September 25, 2016.
Yu finally connected with five triples to finish with 17 points while Jake Figueroa got 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 while Lenard Santiago made eight points while being a game-high plus-20 in his 17 minutes and 23 seconds on the floor.
Up next for NU will be UST on Wednesday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Aldous Torculas was the lone player in double figures with 13 points for the Fighting Maroons, who slid down to 9-2, seeing their three-game winning streak snapped.
JD Cagulangan struggled heavily, going just 3-of-13 from the field for eight points while also committing nine turnovers. The Fighting Maroons as a whole shot just 26.2 percent from the field, making just 17 of their 65 attempts.
It was also the Bulldogs’ first win over the Fighting Maroons since Oct. 12, 2022, 80-75, ending a five-game losing skid against coach Dondon Monteverde’s side.
The 30 turnovers the Fighting Maroons committed is the most for since coach Goldwin Monteverde took over in UAAP Season 84 (2022).
UP looks to rebound next Sunday and it will be against De La Salle University.
Games on Wednesday (SM Mall of Asia Arena)
8 a.m. – FEU-D vs DLSZ (JHS)
10 a.m. – FEU vs DLSU (Women)
12 p.m. – NU vs UST (Women)
3:30 p.m. – FEU vs DLSU (Men)
6:30 p.m. – NU vs UST (Men)
