National University foiled Ateneo de Manila University’s comeback bid in pulling out a 78-74 result out of the fire to extend their life in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 77 men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum.
Not only did the Bulldogs win their fifth straight against the Blue Eagles, but also won for the first time in five games in the Final Four.
Thanks to the efforts of season most valuable player Kiefer Ravena, Ateneo overturned a 15 point deficit in the fourth quarter to pull ahead with less than two minutes remaining in the match.
The fourth-year guard Ravena, who struggled with just five points on two-for-14 shooting from the field in the first half, exploded for 15 points in the fourth quarter alone to complete the turnaround and take over the lead, 72-71, with 1:14 left.
On the flip side, the Bulldogs struggled with their shot and failed to make a single field goal since bringing up their lead to 15, 68-53, on Gelo Alolino’s layup with 8:04 left in the match.
But NU managed to steady on the foul line, burying 10 of 14 attempts on the foul line to keep their finals hope alive.
Former Malayan High School of Science standout Jayjay Alejandro fired 20 points on a near-perfect six-for-seven shooting from the field with four assists. Gelo Alolino added 16, while Glenn Khobuntin contributed 12.
“Inisip ko lang na no-pressure sa amin ang game na ito. Sinabi sa amin ni coach na gawin namin ang best namin and walang regrets. Basta magawa namin ang best effort, manalo o matalo, siguro naman alam ng tao yun,” said Alejandro, the former youth national squad member.
“Malaki talaga ang pressure pag number one ka, pero ‘di namin iniisip yun. We just wanted to give our best for this game, as we know how important this game is. We’re not even looking beyond this game,” said Altamirano, who is in his fourth year under the helm.
“The breaks didn’t go our way in the fourth quarter. But I’m proud of my boys, even though the breaks weren’t going our way. They held up, they stayed focus, they kept their composure, and we made our free throws which was important.”
Coach Bo Perasol, whose wards have not won a contest against the Bulldogs since he took over the reins last season, pointed out that his wards lacked the energy to match their opponents from Sampaloc despite having more than a week’s rest in preparation to the match.
“I think that the one thing that we really wanted to do, which was to have a good start, did not happen. That was one of the major reasons why we kept on catching up the whole game. This time, we weren’t able to get good breaks in the end,” said Perasol
Chris Newsome played a supporting role by putting up 14 points, seven rebounds, and four assists, while Nico Elorde added 12 for the Blue Eagles.
Ateneo and NU will face again for a spot in the Finals this Wednesday, October 1, at the Araneta Coliseum.
