Alolino, Aroga star as Bulldogs oust Eagles to enter UAAP finals

MANILA, Philippines – Gelo Alolino and Alfred Aroga put on their superhero cape on offense and defense, respectively, as National University ousted top seed Ateneo on Wednesday, 65-63, to barge into the finals of the 77th UAAP men’s basketball tourney at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Staring at a 60-63 deficit, Alolino drilled a booming triple to tie the game with two minutes left.

NU then forced Ateneo star Kiefer Ravena to take a tough fade-away jumper before setting a play for Alolino, who managed to fish for a foul.

The fourth-year player knocked down two pressure-packed free throws to give the Bulldogs the lead, 65-63, with 9.3 ticks left.

The game took a bizarre turn when a brownout occurred, forcing both teams to wait for almost 30 minutes before resuming the game.

When play resumed, Ateneo drew a play for Ravena to attack the basket, but Aroga had other plans, soaring for the game-winning block to the delight of their fans, who turned into a raucous celebration.

"We've broken our walls of Jericho. Andito na kami, malapit na kami sa promised land. We'll prepare and we will do what we need do," said NU coach Eric Altamirano on leading the Bulldogs to its first trip to the finals since 1974.

Aroga finished with double-double effort of 14 points and 12 rebounds while Alolino and Glenn Khoubuntin added 12 and 11 points, respectively.

"Sabi nga ni coach ‘take away all the stats pag dating sa ganito’ basta masaya lang talaga ako nanalo kami. Itong win na ito, collective effort namin as a team," said Alolino.

Altamirano believes they have to stick to their identity for them to have a chance to win the elusive UAAP basketball title.

"Mahirap talaga sa Finals. You need to throw away all the stats. It’s about how bad you want it. Basta kami, we'll stick to who we are and what we do best," he said.

"We'll continue what got us to this point. Kung kailangan namin manalo with defense and sharing the ball, we'll do that," he added.

Graduating player Chris Newsome led the Blue Eagles with 22 points while Ravena added 18 points for the Katipunan-based squad.

At the end of the first half, NU took a 32-27 lead behind a balanced scoring and stingy defense while limiting Ateneo's field goal shooting to 36 percent.

Newsome kept Ateneo in the game with 15 first half points, including a triple right before the break.