NU Lady Bulldogs near elimination sweep after victory over UST
It only takes three wins away for National University to complete an elimination sweep after edging reigning champion University of Santo Tomas, 76-70, in the UAAP Season 87 Women’s Basketball Tournament on Wednesday, November 6, at SM Mall of Asia Arena.
With this victory, the Lady Bulldogs are now guaranteed of at least a playoff berth for a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four.
“Just glad that we pulled through in this one because we had a rough start, but I’m happy of how our players responded even though [UST] jumped at us early,” NU coach Aris Dimaunahan said.
“We did not lose that focus we should be having for 40 minutes and part of which, that’s why we came back early because CC got some baskets early on,” he added.
Karylle Sierba momentarily gave the Growling Tigresses hope in the third quarter after sinking a triple, 59-57. However, NU retaliated with a 13-0 blast after Cielo Pagdulagan’s inside shot in the final frame that propelled Lady Bulldogs to an 11-point advantage, 70-59, with less than 7:30 remaining.
A layup by Tacky Tacatac diminished UST’s deficit to seven, 74-67, but Angel Surada responded with layups, as well as a crucial turnover courtesy of Brigette Santos concluded Lady Bulldogs’ victory.
“I think that’s part of the challenge of how we should play the game from start to finish. Syempre, hindi perfect, but the challenge really is how well we could bounce back if there are adversities and lapses that happen, especially on the defensive side,” Dimaunahan remarked.
Camille Clarin top scored for the Lady Bulldogs with 21 points with 18 coming from the first half, to go along with seven rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block, while Pagdulagan scored 17 markers built from six boards, two dimes, and one rejection.
Ann Pingol contributed 11 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks while Surada tallied eight markers, six boards, one dime, and one rejection.
NU’s aims to inch closer to an elimination round sweep when they clash against Adamson University on Sunday, November 10, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Tacatac led the charge for the Growling Tigresses with 21 points, three assists, and two steals, while UAAP Season 86 Athlete of the Year Kent Pastrana added 14 markers, six boards, five dimes, one deflection, and one rejection.
UST looks to bounce back when they go up against University of the East on Saturday, November 9, at the same venue.
The Scores:
NU 76 – Clarin 21, Pagdulagan 17, Pingol 11, Surada 8, Canuto 6, Betanio 5, Fabruada 4, Cayabyab 4, Konateh 0, Villanueva 0, Solis 0, Alterado 0.
UST 70 – Tacatac 21, Pastrana 14, Maglupay 10, Santos 8, Sierba 8, Bron 4, Ambos 2, Serrano 2, N. Danganan 1, Soriano 0, Pescador 0, Relliquette 0.
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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.