At A Glance
- Final Four-bound National University ramped up its bid for a twice-to-beat berth with a 76-65 drubbing of University of Santo Tomas in the second round of the UAAP Season 86 men's basketball tournament on Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Final Four-bound National University ramped up its bid for a twice-to-beat advantage with a 76-65 drubbing of University of Santo Tomas in the second round of the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament on Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Bulldogs stayed ahead of the La Salle Green Archers in the standings after improving with a 10-2 record, inching closer to the coveted semifinal advantage.
Kean Baclaan led the way with a team-high 13 points and five assists, while Patrick Yu and PJ Palacielo had 12 and 10 markers, respectively.
NU blasted UST in the third period to create a 53-38 separation off JM Galinato’s three-pointer heading into the fourth period.
Although the also-ran Growling Tigers managed to trim the deficit to just 11 early in the closing period, it just further fueled the hot-shooting Bulldogs who stretched the gap to its biggest in the game, 76-58, with just over a minute left until the final buzzer.
UST went for another last-minute ditch effort with a 7-0 counter run, but time eventually ran out.
Growling Tigers' main guys Christian Manaytay and Nic Cabañero paced the squad with a combined 27 points.
The España squad actually outscored the Bulldogs in the fourth period, but it was not enough to crawl back from the huge hole.
UST, which was eliminated from contention by defending champion Ateneo earlier this week, sank to a 1-11 slate going into the last stretch of the season.