NU Bulldogs’ PJ Palacielo in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament game against FEU Tamaraws. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
With the way National University (NU) challenged La Salle in their opening matchup in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament, the Bulldogs were expected to have a runaway win against Far Eastern University (FEU).
But the Tamaraws led by 17 in the first quarter, had a 13 point lead early in the fourth and earned three free throws in the end to wipe out a two-point deficit.
Somehow, the Bulldogs emerged with the win.
“It’s simple, we were flat,” coach Jeff Napa said after NU barely escaped FEU, 62-60, on Saturday at Smart Araneta Coliseum. “No. 1, we were probably tense because the first [big] game was already over and then [the players] felt the absence of [Mo Diassana].”
NU lost to La Salle, 78-75, a game where Diassana, the team’s foreign student-athlete, played only four minutes after suffering an ACL injury.
“We need to wake them up and make them realize that they can only lean on each other now that we lost Mo,” Napa said after his team evened its record at 1-1 (win-loss).
The Bulldogs slowly chipped away at the early advantage built by the Tamaraws (0-2), who they limited to just five points in the fourth quarter where they also manufactured a 15-0 run on the way to victory.
Missed free throws
That run erased a 13-point hole in the fourth quarter. NU was up, 62-60 on three straight points by PJ Palacielo, who nearly played goat when he fouled a three-point shooting Janrey Pasaol.
Pasaol missed all three free throws.
None of the Bulldogs finished in double figures, with Palacielo, Jake Figueroa and Kenshin Padrones joining hands to lead NU. Palacielo led NU with nine points in addition to six rebounds.
Figueroa had eight points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals while Padrones added eight points and 10 rebounds.
“Coach Jeff did not prepare us [for this season] just to surrender if we lose Diassana. We will still fight until the end,” Figueroa said in Filipino. “We are not going down even if we lost one teammate.”
The Bulldogs next face University of the Philippines on Wednesday.