Big cage week for National U

National University surprisingly dominated both the UAAP men and women’s basketball just a week before the first round of the eliminations wraps up.

The unbeaten Lady Bulldogs rolled to their fifth straight victory after whipping Far Eastern University, 56-40, in women’s action over the weekend at Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City.

Kristine Abriam fired 16 points and Afril Bernardino posted a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds to power NU.

Defending champion La Salle joined the Lady Bulldogs on top at 5-0 by downing rival Ateneo, 48-39, behind Cass Santos and Trisha Piatos.

The Bulldogs also claimed the solo top spot with a 5-1 record in the men’s tournament.

Cameroonian center Alfred Aroga, named as the UAAP Press Corps-Accel Quantum Plus/316 Player of the Week, came up with big plays both in the Bulldogs’ 37-point blasting of Adamson, 62-25, and in their heart-stopping escape over University of the East, 57-55.

“I can’t talk like an individual player because everything that matters is the team,” said Aroga, who averaged 11.5 points, 10 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in six games.

Even in juniors volleyball, the Bullpups shared the early lead with the 10-time champion Junior Warriors at 3-0.

The Junior Warriors drubbed La Salle Zobel, 25-12, 25-18, 25-17, and overwhelmed tournament newcomer FEU-Diliman, 25-17, 25-7, 25-13, in the boys’ division.

The Bullpups stretched their perfect run by tripping University of Santo Tomas, 24-26, 25-16, 25-22, 26-24, and University of the Philippines, 25-12, 25-16, 25-19.

In girls’ action, defending champion UST clipped Adamson, 25-20, 25-21, 25-22, for its second straight triumph.