NU seizes first finals slot at Filoil Preseason Cup

Filoil League at San Juan arena , Oping Sumalinog of Ateneo try to recover the ball off denise Villamor of NU INQUIRER PHOTO/AUGUST DELA CRUZ

MANILA, Philippines — Not even the four-time UAAP champion Ateneo can stop National University.

Ray Parks led the way as the Bulldogs never let up from start to finish en route to an emphatic 85-68 win over the Blue Eagles Saturday to seize the first Finals slot in the FilOil Flying V Preseason Hanes Cup at the Arena in San Juan.

“He really carried us through offensively and defensively,” said NU coach Eric Altamirano.

Parks, the reigning UAAP MVP, easily notched 30 points on just 13 shots and had six rebounds and a couple of assists and steals in 31 minutes.

The Bulldogs, who remained unbeaten in 10 games, clicked on both ends as the team shot 51% from the field apart from pushing the Blue Eagles out of their comfort zones with their disruptive defense.

Greg Slaughter finished with 21 points and seven rebounds but he wasn’t able to establish his inside game.

Emmanuel Mbe and Joel Betayene took turns in containing the Slaughter and did a good job of forcing the seven-footer to take spot-up jumpers.

NU banked on its pressure defense to stop Ateneo. Three straight free throws put the Bulldogs up by eight, 22-14.

And since then, the Blue Eagles would never recover.

“We had a good start in this game. I’m proud of the [team], they believed in each other,”

The Bulldogs maintained a double-digit lead the majority of the game and led by 19 thrice, the last on a left corner jumper by Parks, 83-64.

“Even if it’s just the preseason, it’s always a big challenge to beat Ateneo,” added Altamirano, whose will face the winner between San Beda and De La Salle in the Finals on Tuesday.

Nico Salva added 14 points on 17 shots while Kiefer Ravena struggled with just eight points in as many attempts.