Bulldogs exit with a bang, beat Archers in no-bearing game

MANILA, Philippines — The National University Bulldogs ended their UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament on a high note after thwarting the top-seeded La Salle Green Archers, 63-54, Wednesday afternoon at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion in Manila. 

The Bulldogs, who are already eliminated from Final Four contention, finished their season with a 5-9 win-loss slate. Meanwhile, Wednesday’s loss snapped the nine-game win streak of the defending champion Archers, who dropped to 12-2 entering the semifinals. 

PJ Palacielo spearheaded NU with 16 points and eight rebounds, to go with a steal, a block and an assist. Jake Figueroa added 14 markers and three boards. 

The Sampaloc-based squad turned a 28-27 deficit at the 4:19 mark of the second quarter into a 38-32 lead at the half thanks to a strong showing by rookie Tebol Garcia, who scored six points in the 11-4 run, including a late layup. 

This turned the tides of the contest, as the lead grew to 10, 49-39, in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. 

The Archers, though, did not go down without a fight, cutting the lead to two, 51-53, after a split from the line by Mike Phillips.

But the Bulldogs bit back and finished the game with a 10-3 blitz to secure another huge win in the second round.

After struggling to tie together victories, NU recorded big wins over second-seeded University of the Philippines and fourth-seeded University of Santo Tomas. 

However, the late surge of victories came a little bit too late as the Bulldogs bowed out of the semifinal race after losing a 53-41 decision against Adamson over the weekend. 

Garcia finished with eight points in 11 minutes off the bench for NU. Jolo Manansala added six. 

Phillips picked up the slack for La Salle, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Kevin Quiambao had another dismal shooting game as he finished with just six points on 3-of-17 shooting. 

Raven Gonzales also had a near double-double for the Green Archers with nine points and nine rebounds.