MANILA, Philippines — National University nipped skidding University of the East, 57-55, to gain solo lead in the UAAP Season 77 men’s basketball tournament Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Bulldogs, who moved atop the standings with a 5-1 record, closed the Red Warriors out thanks to a 9-0 run after trailing, 48-54, late in the game.
“It was a tightly-contested ball game. It could’ve gone either way. I just like to commend the boys for their resiliency. They refused to lose,” said NU head coach Eric Altamirano. “Come third quarter we got our acts together. We got back to where we’re really strong at.”
“We made the stops in the end, stopping (Roi) Sumang. We knew they were going to him in the end,” added Altamirano.
Sumang had the chance to tie the game but his layup, contested by the 6-foot-8 Alfred Aroga, was way off as time expired.
Aroga notched a double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds while Glenn Khobuntin had 14 points and eight rebounds for NU.
“It’s not about an individual player or the stats. Everything that matters is the team. We just care about helping each other,” said Aroga. “It feels good to win I felt like we wanted it more.”
“It’s nice to be at first but we cannot really rest and be complacent,” said Altamirano.
Starting point guard Gelo Alolino hit a 3-pointer that put NU ahead for good, 55-54, with 3:25 left before Aroga made it 57-54 nearly a minute later.
Bong Gallanza and Sumang each had 16 points for the Red Warriors, who absorbed their third straight loss after wins over lowly teams University of the Philippines and Adamson in their first two outings.
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