MANILA, Philippines – National University pulled away in the third quarter and pushed Arellano to its second straight setback, 86-71, Saturday in the 2013 Filoil Hanes Pre-Season Cup at the Arena in San Juan.
The Bulldogs groped for form at first but still ended up cruising to their seventh victory of the tournament and a slot in the quarterfinals.
NU turned the ball over 17 times in the first half alone – just one miscue less of the Chiefs’ total for the game. It had 27 turnovers in total.
It was a good thing that NU didn’t have a problem in the offense with Alfred Aroga outworking everybody else in the paint.
“I felt we played better in the second half. In the first half we committed too many TOs so we lost our lead,” said head coach Eric Altamirano. “We regrouped in the 2nd half. We did a good job.”
The Cameroonian center, who’s playing his first year in the UAAP, finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Jay Alejandro and Denice Villamor added 12 and 10.
Ray Parks added nine points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals – matching up well with Arellano’s James Forrester.
“Really it’s not about the match up, it’s about the team. I was just focusing on locking down on defense,” said Parks.
After a four-point lead at the half, the defending champions poured 30 points in the third quarter, breaking the game wide open with the lead reaching to as high as 20, 83-63.
The Bulldogs fly to Perth, Australia on the 25th for their eight-day training camp as a build-up for the coming UAAP season.
Forrester finished with 15 points – all but three from downtown – so did guard John Pinto, who has been a crucial key for the Chiefs’ erstwhile unbeaten run. Prince Caperal had 11.
Arellano, though, reeled to its first back-to-back loss since it went 4-0 early in the pre-season cup.