JOHN Lloyd Clemente and Justine Baltazar hope to keep National University on a perfect roll when the Bullpups tackle defending champion Ateneo at the start of the second round of the UAAP juniors basketball tournament Saturday.
The Bullpups, anchoring their 7-0 run on Clemente and Baltazar, put their unbeaten record on the line against the Blue Eaglets at 11 a.m. at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
The Eaglets share the second spot at 5-2 with De La Salle Zobel, which battles fourth-running Far Eastern University at 3 p.m.
University of Santo Tomas (2-5) and University of the East (0-7) kick off the four-game bill at 9 a.m., while Adamson (4-3) and University of the Philippines (1-6) clash at 1 p.m.
The Bullpups go for a repeat of their first-round blasting of the Eaglets, where Clemente and Baltazar combined for 36 points in a 73-60 decision.
But the Eaglets are keen to put up a fight this time with a healthier Jolo Mendoza, last year’s Finals MVP who wound up scoreless due to injury in their December meeting with the Bullpups.
The Junior Archers also try to sustain their run behind Aljun Melecio, who leads the league in points (23.1 ppg) and steals (2.7 spg). Jasmine W. Payo