The National University Bulldogs refused to have bad day as they ended a five-year losing spell to University of the Philippines Maroons on Wednesday in the 85th University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Sophomore point guard Steve Nash Enriquez, looking cool with his long-knotted, frizzy hairstyle, hit two big charities in the last 13.4 seconds, sending the Bulldogs to an 80-75 upset of the defending champion Fighting Maroons.
The 19-year-old Enriquez, who has been donning his funky hairdo for the last two years, went on to finish with 10 points for Bulldogs, who marched to their third straight victory.
Gambian slotman Omar John showed the way with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Jhay Baclaan tallied 13 points for the Bulldogs, who forced a three-way tie for the lead with the Fighting Maroons and the Ateneo Blue Eagles with their 3-1 win-loss slate.
The Fighting Maroons, who experienced their first defeat to the Bulldogs in five years, missed eight of nine attempts in the last four minutes.
After Carl Tamayo sank two charities with 4:25 left to keep UP close, 72-75, NU shut the Maroons down for four minutes, with Malick Diouf bungling two of three attempts down low.
NU took advantage of UP’s scoreless spell to gain some distance, 78-72, on a split charity from Michael Malonzo and John’s jumper off Malonzo’s pass.
Tamayo then tried to keep UP within range with a triple, 75-78, but they could not come any closer after Terrence Fortea muffed two attempts.
Fortea’s foul on Enriquez settled the issue in NU’s favor in the 13.4-second mark.
“It was a good win for us. It was a very tough game. That’s why they are the defending champions. Up to the last minute, we were bleeding and trying to figure out what we needed to do to get the win,” said Bulldogs’ coach Jeff Napa.
NU last won over UP, 77-70, back in the second round of Season 80.
Meanwhile, Rence Padrigao unloaded a career-high 20 points as the Ateneo Blue Eagles rebounded from a big upset to rival La Salle Green Archers, with a 79-52 smothering of the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers earlier in the day.
The Blue Eagles limited the Tigers to 11 points in the third period and then held them to just nine points in the final period to post their third win in four games.
Padrigao, who also had three rebounds, eight assists and five steals, shot 11 points in the second half, joining hands with Chris Koon and Art Quitevis for 16 points as the Blue Eagles widened a 57-43, 14-point lead at the end of the third period to 27 when the game ended.
“The players felt not great at halftime, but the coaching staff felt that it wasn’t really that bad. And if we stuck to the job, we have good players, they’re gonna hit good shots. In the second half, we finally started to hit shots,” said Blue Eagles’ head coach Tab Baldwin.
The Growling Tigers, with Nic Cabanero and Ivan Lazarte making 12 and 11 points, respectively, absorbed their third straight defeat to fall to 1-3.
Meanwhile, Kyle Paranada topscored for 26 points and hauled nine rebounds as Univerity of the East brought down La Salle Green, 81-74, to earn its second triumph in four matches.
It was the Warriors’ first win over La Salle in three years, putting them into a share of second position with their victims.