Mo Diassana scored on a slam for NU. —UAAP MEDIA
National University handed University of the Philippines its first loss in the UAAP Season 89 men’s basketball tournament, pulling off a 72-64 victory Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Coming off a convincing win over University of the East last week, the Bulldogs carried that momentum against UP, taking control early and improving to 2-1.
“They really stepped up to the challenge of needing to fight UP. We’re a young team,” NU coach Jeff Napa said. “Somehow, we made a collective effort to get this win.”
NU set the tone with a dominant opening quarter, racing to a 25-12 lead before keeping the Fighting Maroons at arm’s length.
The Bulldogs remained comfortably ahead, 56-42, after three quarters before opening the fourth with a 10-6 run. Reinhard Jumamoy’s short jumper gave NU a commanding 66-48 advantage with 4:45 remaining.
Jumamoy finished with 14 points, five rebounds and five assists. Macmac Alfanta added 13 points, Paul Francisco had 11 and Mo Diassana chipped in 10.
“Before the game, coach told us not to think too much about UP being our opponent. He told us to focus on ourselves so that we could do what we did in practice,” said the rookie Alfanta, who also had two blocks.
Arvie Poyos led UP with 13 points and four assists, while Veejay Pre scored 11. Miguel Yniguez added 10 points and five rebounds in the loss.
In another game, Far Eastern University spoiled Paolo Hubalde’s debut as UE head coach with a 93-70 rout of the Red Warriors.
UE replaced Chris Gavina with Hubalde before tip-off, but the coaching change could not immediately reverse the Red Warriors’ fortunes.
FEU, bouncing back from a loss to Adamson, improved to 1-1.
“The way we had our collapse against Adamson was not what we expected,” FEU coach Sean Chambers said. “We had to sit on that for weeks. It was hard for us.”
The Tamaraws took a 23-15 first-quarter lead before breaking the game open with a 15-5 run for a 38-20 advantage.
Mo Konateh led FEU with 15 points, while Kirby Mongcopa had 13 points and 13 rebounds. Jorrick Bautista scored 13, and Janrey Pasaol and Jedric Daa added 12 apiece.
Toper Lagat paced UE with 20 points, while Mo Tanedo had 16 and Gene Carillo added 13 as the Red Warriors fell to 0-3.
Ateneo also improved to 2-1 after Jared Bahay took over down the stretch in a 73-68 victory over Adamson.
With the Blue Eagles protecting a 67-61 lead and 1:41 remaining, Bahay scored Ateneo’s final six points to hold off the Soaring Falcons.
Bahay finished with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists.
“When it comes to Jared, I’ve known him for more than three years. I’ve known him since high school,” Ateneo coach Louie Alas said. “I’m a big believer in my guards.”
Travis Roberts added 14 points and Ian Espinosa scored 10 for Ateneo. INQ