MANILA, Philippines - National University imposed its strength against St. Benilde early and went on to fashion out a 77-64 victory to advance to the quarterfinal round of the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup at The Arena in San Juan last night.
Troy Rosario and Glenn Khobuntin scored 14 points apiece while JJ Alejandro added 11 markers and Gelo Alolino posted a double-double output of 10 points and 10 rebounds as the Bulldogs led from start to finish to secure the second spot in Group C with a 5-1 card.
The loss dropped the Blazers to third with a 3-3 slate.
“I think we played a better game overall,†said NU coach Eric Altamirano. “This is one of our best offensive games in the tournament. We relaxed but we didn’t lose focus on our defense. The couple days of practice really helped us.â€
NU dominated early behind a balanced attack, racing to a 42-29 lead at the half.
The Bulldogs kept their charge at resumption of play and posted their biggest lead at 75-56 with 2:25 to play behind back-to-back treys from Rosario and Alolino.
St. Benilde, behind Mark Romero, Paolo Taha, and Jonathan Grey, struck back and cut the deficit to 11, with 57 seconds to play, but the Bulldogs held sway to frustrate the Blazers.
Letran routed an undermanned Philippine Youth team, 93-63, as it closed out its campaign.
The Knights leaned on Fidel Castro, who hit four triples to lead the Knights, who played without Mark Cruz, to the win.
Castro finished with 16 points while Ford Ruaya added 14 markers and Rey Nambatac added 11 points and six rebounds.
The Nationals kept in step with the Knights majority of the first half before the Knights clamped down on defense and held their youthful rivals to just nine points in the third while scoring 21 of their own.
That put them way ahead at 64-47 before cruising to victory, the Knights’ third against the same number of losses.
Letran thus wound up fourth in Group B of the men’s division
The Nationals showed up sans its mainstays who either returned to their mother clubs or out of the country for training and finished their stint without a win in six games.
“We just joined Filoil to get experience,†said second year Letran coach Caloy Garcia. “We’re a smaller team now but we have a solid guard rotation. We have to work with what we have. It’s just a matter of developing their character and feeling their way with their teammates. They just have to challenge themselves.â€
The Knights dominated the paint, 63-37.
Paul Desiderio led the National U-18 team with 15 points, while Mark Dyke had a double-double of 12 markers and 11 rebound and Jolo Go added 11 points.
The scores:
First Game
Letran 93 – Castro 16, Ruaya 14, Nambatac 11, Calvo 9, Singontiko 7, Luib 6, Gabawan 6, Manlangit 6, Sumalacay 4, Apreku 3, Pantin 3, Quinto 2, Publico 2, Saldua 2, Dela Peña 2, Po 0.
Phl U-18 63 – Desiderio 15, Dyke 12, Go 11, Tongco 9, Yu 5, Caracut 5, Manguera 5, Subido 1, Escoto 0, Mosqueda 0, Balanza 0, Rivero 0.
Quarterscores: 19-17, 43-38, 64-47, 93-63
Second Game
NU 77 – Rosario 14, Khobuntin 14, Alejandro 11, Alolino 10, Aroga 9, Celda 8, Neypes 4, Javelona 2, Betayene 2, Perez 2, Diputado 1, Salim 0, Tansingco 0.
St. Benilde 64 – Romero 16, Grey 15, Taha 14, Bartolo 5, Sinco 4, Ongteco 2, Nayve 2, Argamino 2, Jonson 2, Altamirano 2, Saavedra 0, Flores 0.
Quarterscores: 22-12, 42-29, 62-49, 77-64