MANILA, Philippines – Collins Akowe scored the go-ahead layup with two seconds left as National University escaped Far Eastern University, 66-65, to join Ateneo and Adamson as early leaders in the PG Flex Inter Secondary Tournament at the Veacon Hope Sports Center on Saturday, October 7.
Akowe stood tall for Bullpups anew, finishing with another double-double of 24 points and 16 rebounds including the clutch layup off a beautiful feed from Thomas Pillado to lift his team past the Baby Tamaraws and to a 2-0 record in the standings.
FEU actually looked to be on its way to victory in the waning seconds after Dwayne Miranda nailed a triple that put his team up ahead by one, 65-64.
That, however, only set up the table to Akowe’s heroics as NU claimed a huge scalp in the UAAP juniors champions,
Also coming out spotless so far in the tournament were the Blue Eaglets and Baby Falcons who both cruised to easy wins.
Ateneo dominated Philippine Christian University Dasmarinas with a 76-66 win while Adamson proved to be too much for University of Batangas, 106-49.
Letran also bounced back from an opening day defeat, whipping Lyceum, 111-74 to improve to a 1-1 record.
Chris Urbina led the way with 19 points as the Blue Eaglets led by as many as 20 points before keeping the Dolphins at bay in the final frame.
It was a total team effort for the Baby Falcons as five players wound up with double-digit scoring led by the 19 points of Gabrielle De Jesus. Adamson opened the contest with a 28-5 first quarter scoring and never let up from there to bag the win.
The Squires, meanwhile, banked on a strong middle quarters performance to dispatch the Pirates. Dan Padilla exploded for 22 points while Jhaz De Leon and Lex Gazingan added 15 apiece.