Bulldogs devour Maroons in UAAP Season 87's biggest upset

MANILA, Philippines -- It's a massive upset in Espana.

The National University Bulldogs mauled the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, 67-47, in their UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball clash Sunday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion in Manila.

NU capitalized on a rare cold shooting outing and 29 turnovers by UP to register the biggest upset thus far this season.

Patrick Yu spearheaded the Bulldogs with 17 points built on five 3-pointers to go with two assists and a rebound. Jake Figueroa added 11 markers.

The Sampaloc-based squad started the game waxing hot, going up by 16 points early, 20-4.

It was more of the same in the second quarter, with NU holding a 34-20 advantage at the half.

The Fighting Maroons are known as a third quarter team, erasing huge deficits in the period. But that did not happen this time around, as the Bulldogs kept their foot on the gas and hiked the lead to 24, 55-31, as Yu dialed in shots from way beyond.

The NU lead grew to as much as 27 points, 62-35, as the Bulldogs quelled a late rally by UP to grab the surprising victory.

“As long as we compete pa rin, yun naman ang importante doon. Sinabi ko sa kanila talaga na let’s finish strong this season. Yun ang mindset muna namin. Basta ginawa namin nang tama, yung result, nakuha namin yung W,” NU head coach Jeff Napa told reporters.

“Hindi na namin iniisip kung papasok ba kami, whatsoever. Ang pakiusap ko lang sa kanila, tapusin namin nang maganda ang season,” he added.

PJ Palacielo added nine markers, while Lenard Santiago chipped in eight. 

Aldous Torculas paced UP with 13 points, but he played just 10 minutes. 

The Fighting Maroons shot just 17-of-65 from the field, including 4-of-29 from 3-point territory, compared to NU’s 25-of-57 clip. 

NU rose to 3-8 after the potential season-saving victory, while the Fighting Maroons dropped to 9-2, putting their twice-to-beat dreams on hold for now.

The Bulldogs will try to make it two in a row against the fourth-seeded UST Growling Tigers at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 6, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

UP, on the other hand, will take on La Salle next Sunday in a rematch of last season’s finals.