Bulldogs thump Eagles, claim 1st twice-to-beat

Games on Saturday

(Mall of Asia Arena)

2 p.m. – AdU vs UE

4 p.m. – UST vs DLSU

Standings            W            L

* NU      10           4

* FEU    10           4

* DLSU  9              4

UST        7              5

ADMU  7              6

UE          5              7

AdU       4              9

UP          0              13

* clinched Final Four slot

MANILA, Philippines - National U hammered out a 70-65 victory over Ateneo to secure a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four while dealing the five-peat champion Eagles’ semifinals bid a big blow in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena yesterday.

Denied of the semis bonus by a heartbreaking 55-57 loss to La Salle last Sunday, the Bulldogs did not let the opportunity slip away this time and leaned on the endgame heroics of Dennis Villamor and Bobby Parks Jr. to seal that all-important 10th triumph.

With a 10-4 win-loss card, the Bulldogs have assured themselves of the Top 2 position at the end of the elims and the Final Four incentive. 

Fellow semifinalist Far Eastern U also finished with 10-4 after routing University of the Philippines, 87-69, behind the 33-point explosion of Terrence Romeo. 

But the Tams have to wait for the outcome of La Salle’s outing against University of Santo Tomas on Saturday to determine if they will get the other semis incentive outright.

Should La Salle (9-4) prevail, it will force a three-way tie for first. In this case, NU, the team with the best quotient, will get top seeding while FEU and DLSU will dispute No. 2 in a playoff. Should La Salle lose, the Tams will take top ranking and the Bulldogs will get No. 2. The Archers will wind up at No. 3.

“We’re very humbled with this victory. This is the first time we’re in this position so we’re thankful for it,” said NU coach Eric Altamirano, who steered the Sampaloc-based squad to its first-ever Top 2 ranking and win-once bonus in the Final Four.

“I told the players before the game, guys we had a tough loss to La Salle, we felt bad about it but after the game, we found out we’re still No. 1 and coming into this game, we still had an opportunity to get the twice-to-beat so let’s take this opportunity, it’s rare to have that second chance,” he added.

Ateneo dropped to 7-6 and fifth place, making their showdown with fourth-running UST (7-5) in the last day of elims on Sept. 18 a do-or-die affair for the six-peat-seeking Eagles.

Villamor fired seven of his nine markers in the payoff period, his booming open triple from the corner off a feed by Parks gave NU a 68-63 cushion with 22.2 seconds left. 

The Eagles made it a three-point ball game via Chris Newsome’s charities. The defending champs regained possession and had a shot at the equalizer but Juami Tiongson missed his triple try and Parks grabbed the defensive board, drew a foul from Ryan Buenafe and cashed in on his freebies.

Parks finished with 24 points, to go with seven rebounds, two steals and one assist while Emmanuel Mbe had 17 markers and 12 boards.

Newsome shot 17 and grabbed 11 caroms for Ateneo, which only got three points from star guard Kiefer Ravena.

Just four days after sizzling with 32, Romeo came with guns ablaze against the Warriors and fired 3-of-8 from three-point territory and 8-of-15 from two-point area. 

“The last two game, Terrence really had good scores. But he took less shots (than before). And that’s part of his progress. He’s taking less shots and involving his teammates. He had nine rebounds and five assists today,” said FEU coach Nash Racela.

The Tams gained at least a playoff for the twice-to-beat bonus.

Samuel Marata had 23 points as UP suffered its 13th defeat, just one game away from another winless season.