A HOT-SHOOTING Robin Roño starred off the bench as National University hammered out a 75-61 triumph over University of Santo Tomas to move half a game off the top spot in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament yesterday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Roño fired a career-high 19 points, 15 coming from three-point range, to power the Bulldogs past the Tigers, who lost top gunner Jeric Teng to injury anew.
The Bulldogs streaked to their fourth straight victory showing they’re more than just Ray Parks as Dennice Villamor (18 points, nine rebounds, four assists) and Gelo Alolino (10 points, four assists, two steals) also delivered in key stretches.
“It was really a collective effort,” said coach Eric Altamirano after his Bulldogs closed in on solo leader Far Eastern University (7-2) with a 7-3 record.
La Salle also stayed on a roll as the Green Archers routed University of the Philippines, 85-63, to keep solo fourth with a 6-4 record.
Jason Perkins dropped 11 of his 19 points in the final canto and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead the Archers’ third straight win in the second round.
The skidding Tigers had hoped to get a lift from Teng, who returned after getting sidelined for more than a month due to a shoulder injury. But UST’s top gunner went down again in the second quarter due to a hamstring injury and sat out the rest of the game.
Parks, who had a wrist injury scare in the first period, came back to finish with 10 points, eight rebounds, five assists and a couple of steals.
Almond Vosotros (16 points, seven assists), Norbert Torres (16 points, 14 rebounds) and Jeron Teng (12 points) also shone for the Archers, who rallied from 35-42.
“We just shot better in the second half,” said coach Juno Sauler after his Archers spoiled UP coach Rey Madrid’s debut with UP, now 0-9.
The scores:
First Game
LA SALLE 85–Perkins 19, Vosotros 16, N. Torres 16, Teng 12, Van Opstal 7, Revilla 6, Montalbo 5, Tampus 4, T. Torres 0, Salem 0.
UP 63–Asilum 18, Soyud 11, Marata 11, Wong 6, Lao 6, Harris 4, Desiderio 4, Pascual 3, Suarez 0, Paras 0, Gingerich 0, Gallarza 0.
Quarters: 23-20, 35-42, 61-56, 85-63
Second Game
NU 75– Roño 19, Villamor 18, Parks 10, Alolino 10, Khobuntin 9, Mbe 4, Javillonar 3, Perez 2, Rosario 0, Porter 0, Neypes 0, Javelona 0, Alejandro 0.
UST 61–Abdul 18, Ferrrer 11, Mariano 9, Daquioag 9, Lo 5, Bautista 5, Teng 2, Sheriff 2, Tan 0, Pe 0, Lao 0.
Quarters: 17-14, 36-33, 56-44, 75-61