NU exacts revenge against La Salle, extends win streak to 13
National University avenged their last season loss over De La Salle University, 72-63, in the UAAP Season 87 Women’s Basketball Tournament on Wednesday, November 13, at the University of Santo Tomas Quadricentennial Pavilion.
The Lady Bulldog’s victory turned out to be sweeter than usual as they finally banished the ghost of their past, avenging their devastating defeat in the hands of the Lady Archers at the same UST venue on November 23, 2022.
Far Eastern University is the lone team standing in the way of NU’s elimination round sweep.
If the Lady Bulldogs win, it will be their first since Season 82 in 2019, but it would be their seventh elimination round sweep in nine seasons.
"We're happy that what happened before didn't occur. Same venue, I just don't remember if it's the same jersey color, but I'm really happy because we weren't really making our shots from the outside," Lady Bulldogs head coach Aris Dimaunahan said.
"Every time we play here, we cannot find our mark in terms of shooting from beyond the arc, but there were times when we needed it the most, we shot," added the former Blackwater head coach as NU shot just 8-of -35 from deep.
The first period ended in a 20-all standstill after NU had fallen behind as much as eight points. It demolished La Salle with a 13-4 run, led by rookie Cielo Pagdulagan, who scored seven unanswered points, to establish a commanding 33-24 lead at the half.
The Lady Bulldog’s powerful 26-17 third quarter performance gave them the moment they needed to increase their lead to 15 points, 56-41.
Ann Pingol’s inside hit and Camille Clarin’s late triple gave NU a decisive 63-47 lead in the final frame, allowing them to secure their 13th straight win and repeat their 64-49 first-round victory over La Salle on September 8.
Pagdulagan led the Lady Bulldogs with 11 points, three rebounds, and one block, while Aloha Betanio scored nine markers, pulled down five boards, and dished out five dimes in an overall strong performance.
In addition to her nine points, Gypsy Canuto recorded two rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
Tin Cayabyab also contributed nine markers, six boards, two dimes, and one deflection.
The Lady Bulldogs will face the FEU Lady Tamaraws in an attempt to achieve the coveted elimination round sweep.
The DLSU Lady Archers, who had won their previous two games, dropped to a 4-8 slate with one game remaining in their Season 87 campaign.
Luisa San Juan top scored for La Salle with 19 points, six rebounds, three assists, and three steals, while Lee Sario finished with 14 markers, four boards, three deflections, and two assists.
In addition to Kyla Sunga’s 12 points, five rebounds, one assist, and one steal, Patricia Mendoza added six markers, seven boards, and one dime.
The Lady Archers will square off with the UST Growling Tigresses, the reigning Season 86 champions, in an attempt to close out the season on a high note.
The Scores:
NU (72) - Pagdulagan 11, Betanio 9, Canuto 9, Cayabyab 9, Clarin 8, Surada 7, Pingol 6, Konateh 3, Fabruada 3, Villanueva 3, Solis 2, Ico 2, Pring 0, Alterado 0, Garcia 0, Talas 0.
DLSU (63) - San Juan 19, Sario 14, Sunga 12, Mendoza 6, Bacierto 4, Paraiso 4, Binaohan 2, Dalisay 2, Dela Paz 0.
Quarter Scores: 9-15, 33-24, 56-41, 72-63.
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Jayson Castro scored 16 points and made an immediate impact in his first game of the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup.
Castro added three steals and two assists in his return to help TNT Tropang Giga get the 109-93 victory over the Blackwater Bossing on Thursday night, December 19, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The nine-time PBA champion missed TNT's first three games due to hamstring issues.
TNT's all-around import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson supported Castro with his 22 points, nine rebounds, five dimes, five deflections, and a block.
Four more Tropang Giga scored in double digits to get their second straight victory of the tourney. Rey Nambatac contributed 19, Calvin Oftana provided 18, RR Pogoy put up 12, and Glenn Khobuntin added 10.
Meanwhile, Blackwater high-scoring import George King, who averaged 39 points per game, was only limited to a conference-low 28 markers on 10-of-22.
The Bossing also don't have their prized rookie Sedrick Barefield due to injury.
With King being handcuffed and Barefield not in the lineup, RK Ilagan stepped up and poured out 19 points highlighted by 3-of-3 shooting from the arc.
The game was the last of the year for both teams.
TNT will be back in action on January 7 against Meralco Bolts, while Blackwater will come back on January 8 to face Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
Sweet-shooting guard Jordan Heading and import Cheick Diallo poured out 21 points each to lead Converge in their victory over the Phoenix Fuel Masters, 116-105, on Thursday night, December 19, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The win marked the first time that the FiberXers won back-to-back games in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup and improved their record to 4-2.
Besides Heading and Diallo, four more Converge players scored in double digits. Schonny Winston and Bryan Santos contributed 16 apiece, while Alec Stockton and BJ Andrade added 14 and 11, respectively.
Their twin towers, ace center Justin Arana and top pick rookie Justine Baltazar both came out with six markers.
"We give credit to our guys," said FiberXers acting head coach Franco Atienza, who admitted that he was anxious when Phoenix made a good start that led to a 20-2 lead.
"We just stuck on, we didn't panic. We returned to how we want to run our system, how to run our offense, our defense," Atienza added.
Converge will have a chance to extend their win streak when they face Barangay Ginebra on Saturday, December 21, in Batangas City, and against Meralco Bolts on Christmas day at the Big Dome.
Meanwhile, Donovan Mitchell led Phoenix with 30 points and 18 rebounds. He was supported by RJ Jazul's 20, Tyler Tio's 13, and Ricci Rivero's 11.
The Fuel Masters now have a 1-5 win-loss record after dropping their final game of the year.
The Scores:
CONVERGE 116 - Heading 21, Diallo 21, Winston 16, Santos 16, Stockton 14, Andrade 11, Arana 6, Baltazar 6, Racal 5, Delos Santos 0, Caralipio 0.
PHOENIX 105 - Smith 30, Jazul 20, Tio 13, Perkins 12, Rivero 11, Tuffin 8, Verano 4, Garcia 3, Soyud 2, Manganti 2, Salado 0, Alejandro 0, Muyang 0, Ular 0, Daves 0.
Quarter Scores: 15-30, 48-54, 87-80, 116-105.
San Miguel failed to earn its breakthrough win in the 2024-25 East Asia Super League (EASL) after bowing to Hong Kong Eastern, 62-71, at Southorn Stadium in Hong Kong, on Wednesday, December 18.
Kobey Lam spearheaded the pivotal comeback, registering 19 points, which gave the Hong Kong squad its first victory in the EASL game.
Notwithstanding the efforts of June Mar Fajardo and recently signed import Torren Jones for San Miguel, Eastern maintained their lead.
After a difficult turn-around shot by Fajardo, the Beermen were able to cut the margin to just two points at 58-60 in the fourth quarter.
However, just when it appeared that San Miguel had the advantage, Lam blazed through when he scored five of Eastern’s 9-0 run.
Lam also posted three rebounds and one assist for the Hong Kong-based squad, with Chris McLaughlin tallying a double-double of 16 markers and 17 boards, while Glenn Yang contributed 11 for the home team.
Fajardo and Jones led the charge for the Beermen with 19 points each, but their efforts were for naught as they failed to keep the team from suffering a third straight loss and dropping to the bottom of Group A.
The loss was the first in three games for Leo Austria since taking over as coach last week in place of Jorge Gallent.
San Miguel will aim to finally grab their first win in the EASL as they face the Hiroshima Dragonflies on January 8 at the Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Japan.
The Scores:
Hong Kong 71 – Lam 19, McLaughlin 16, Yang 11, Blankley 7, Xu 5, Leung 5, Chan 4, Zhu 4, Cheung 0, Pok 0, Guinchard 0.
San Miguel 62 – Fajardo 19, Jones 19, Perez 8, Miller 5, Trollano 3, Tautuaa 3, Cahilig 3, Rosales 2, Ross 0, Lassiter 0.
Quarter Scores: 28-14, 48-34, 60-48, 71-62.