Crippled NU demolishes UNP Sharks

MANILA, Philippines - National U hardly missed UAAP MVP Bobby Ray Parks Jr. and five others as the “lean” Bulldogs mangled the University of Northern Philippines Sharks, 96-51, yesterday at the start of the 2011 Champions League “Sweet 16” tourney at The Arena.

Emmanuel Mbe imposed his will inside with 23 big points to spearhead the 10-man Bulldogs past the overmatched Sharks and into the next round of the “stepladder knockout phase” against the Jose Rizal U Bombers.

“So far, we’re playing better, playing relaxed (compared to the last UAAP campaign),” said NU coach Eric Altamirano, referring to the previous tournament, where the souped-up Bulldogs crew fell short of expectations and finished fifth overall.

“We know that the last season, we were all pressured, there was a lot of pressure. This (post-season) is really the time to learn from our mistakes, get better as a team and assess our players,” he added.

Playing loose, the Bulldogs kicked off the second quarter with an 11-0 spurt to post their first twin-digit spread, 33-17, and went on a relentless attack all the way through to score the 45-point rout.

Altamirano only had 10 players on tap for the game. Top gunner Parks was with the Sinag Pilipinas team gunning for the men’s basketball gold in the 26th Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia as Joseph Terso, Robby Celiz, Marion Magat and Spencer Eman had commitments with their PBA D-League teams. Choi Ignacio also did not play.

Mbe, a former Mythical 5 member in the UAAP, took over the leadership role against the smaller UNP five and was complemented by Reden Celda’s 19 and Robin Roño’s 11.

The rest of the NU unit chipped in at least two points or more: Jeff Javillonar (9), Cedrick Labing-isa (9), Dennis Villamor (7), Kyle Neypes (6), Gelo Alolino (6), a hurting Glenn Khobuntin (4) and Ajeet Singh (2).

UNP, the North Central Luzon champion, was led by forward Jacklord Arquero’s 16 and John Vincent Arceo’s 12, most of them scored in the opening period where the Sharks managed to take a 15-13 lead.