NU coach Jeff Napa. UAAP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — National University coach Jeff Napa’s lengthy halftime talk ignited the Bulldogs’ third quarter surge that led to a 82-51 blowout of University of Santo Tomas in the UAAP Season 84 men’s basketball tournament on Thursday at Mall of Asia Arena.
At the end of half time, where NU held a slim 35-31 lead, Napa and his wards didn’t come out right away from their locker room even after several buzzer sounds.
But when they returned to the court, the Bulldogs unleashed 25 third quarter points, 10 coming from Shaun Ildefonso, to build a 60-40 lead before it ballooned to a 31-point spread the final period.
Napa refused to share what he said to his players at the half but he assured their lengthy huddle woke up the Bulldogs to improve their record to 3-3.
“It was a wake up call. Because my players were not aggressive in the first half. I wanted them to show their real game,” he said.
“Regardless of how many times the buzzer sounds or I get a technical foul. At least, we were able to address the things we need to address. And in the end game, we were fully alive.”
NU’s Shaun Ildefonso. UAAP PHOTO
Ildefonso, who had 10 points and six rebounds, was glad that their coach’s wake-up call worked wonders in the second half.
“We weren’t really happy with our game in the first half. We were so sloppy. It’s not how we play. Coming to halftime, we listened to coach and we had to act upon it, correct mistakes. And good things, we played good basketball, defense was there,” he said. “We built our momentum and sustained our energy in the third. Everyone contributed.”
Napa added that their families in the stands injected extra inspiration to display a strong second half showing.
The NU coach hopes his wards learned from their sluggish start in this game as they try to end the first round on a high note against the winless University of the East on Saturday.
“It’s a big win for us but we have to move forward. There’s no time to celebrate, we have a job to accomplish. At least after a loss to Ateneo, we bounced back with a statement win that we could bring against UE,” Napa said.