National University reasserted its mastery of defending champion Ateneo, 81-69, to extend its unbeaten run to eight games Saturday in the UAAP Season 78 juniors basketball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Arena.
John Lloyd Clemente finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds and two assists, while Justine Baltazar had a monster outing of 15 points and 20 rebounds as the Bullpups followed up their 73-60 conquest of the Blue Eaglets in the first round.
NU led by as much as 25 points, 70-45, early in the fourth.
Ateneo dropped to 5-3, and yielded the second spot to De La Salle-Zobel, which fashioned out a 78-58 win over Far Eastern University-Diliman.
Aljun Melecio shot 41 points, nearly matching his season-high 42 against the Eaglets on opening day, and grabbed 10 boards as the Junior Archers booked their sixth win in eight matches.
Gian Mamuyac paced Ateneo with 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists, SJ Belangel had 17 points and seven boards while Jolo Mendoza and Shaun Ildefonso chipped in 14 markers apiece.
Jayson Celis and Jose Antiporda combined for 21 points as Adamson University subdued UP Integrated School, 66-61. The Baby Falcons tied the Eaglets at 5-3 card.
The Baby Tamaraws, who were led by Kenji Roman with 14 points and 13 rebounds, suffered their fifth defeat in eight starts to slip in fifth place.
Earlier, University of Santo Tomas nipped University of the East, 95-94, with Miguel Ratuiste finishing with 22 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
The Tiger Cubs moved up to 3-5 slate in sixth place, the Junior Maroons fell to 1-6, while the Junior Warriors remained winless in eight contests.