National U bags first Filoil Championship; Parks MVP

Filoil league at San Juan arena , Jed Manguerra of La Salle harass Bobby Ray Parks of NU.PHOTO BY AUGUST DELA CRUZ

MANILA, Philippines—A testament to the squad’s vast improvement, National University clinched the 2012 Filoil Flying V Pre-Season Cup title with a 64-54 triumph over La Salle Tuesday amid a sizeable crowd at the Arena in San Juan city.

The Bulldogs kept their unbeaten slate all throughout, relying on Bobby Ray Parks Jr.’s explosiveness time and time again, and concluded the tournament with an 11-0 record.

“This is a first for us, we’re happy, I’m very happy for the school. It’s just a small school,” said head coach Eric Altamirano.

MVP Bobby Ray Parks of NU PHOTO BY AUGUST DELA CRUZ

Parks., UAAP’s reigning Most Valuable Player, showedd that he’s head and shoulders above the rest and finished with 19 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Parks, even stronger in the offense and now also tenacious on defense, went on to claim the MVP plum in the annual pre-season tournament.

This was the first title of the Bulldogs, who dethroned defending champion Ateneo via a rout in the semifinals, in the Filoil—and they won it convincingly.

Behind a team effort, NU wrestled the lead in the second half and never allowed La Salle, despite a building momentum, to get the taste of the lead anew.

Triples courtesy of Parks, Kyle Neypes and even center Emmanuel Mbe started widening the gap for the Bulldogs, and a basket by Gelo Alololino gave them a 56-47 edge—their biggest of the night—with 5:17 in the fourth.

Meb added 13 points and 15 rebounds while Alolino added 10 points and four rebounds.

The Green Archers, though, didn’t back down easily and still tried to mount the lead with LA Revilla and Almond Vosotros hitting from the outside.

But La Salle, which toppled down NCAA champion San Beda to book a seat in the finals, simply ran out of time and a chance to win another title in the Filoil.

Revilla paced the Green Archers with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists while Mythical five member Norbert Torres added 13 markers and five rebounds.

Torres joined Parks and Mbe, along with Ateneo’s Greg Slaughter and Kiefer Ravena, in the Filoil Mythical Five.

Originally posted at 6:00 p.m.