National University’s Jake Figueroa. Photo from UAAP Media. 

MANILA (UPDATED) — National University ended the UAAP Season 87 men's basketball tournament’s first round in a victorious manner.

The Bulldogs outgunned Ateneo de Manila University, 78-68, during their Saturday night showdown at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, with Jake Figueroa and Ken Padrones leading the Jeff Napa-mentored team to its second win in six games.

“Alam ng mga players ko how frustrated we are talaga dun sa mga talo, pero syempre still positive pa rin,” said Napa on what fueled his Bulldogs in this win.

“Yun yung approach na ginawa namin, we took away the negatives para at least positive pa rin yung approach despite na we're struggling,” he added of his team who will complete the year sans Mo Diassana, NU’s foreign student-athlete who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in their Season 87 debut. 

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This helped Padrones dominate against the Blue Eagles with 18 points and six rebounds, while Figueroa was steady with 15 markers, seven boards, and four assists.

These numbers, together with National U’s 51.9% shooting from the field, powered the Bulldogs to lead by as much as 14 in the game. Their defense also managed to limit Ateneo to only shooting 33.3 as a team, in turn, allowing NU to fend off any run that the Katipunan-based team attempted to close in on their Jhocson Street counterparts.

But aside from these numbers, Napa credited the support of the 1,350 Nationalians from the NU MOA campus that came to support the Bulldogs in the Pasay bayside arena.

“Syempre boost ng morale,” an emotional coach Jeff said. “As a true-blooded Nationalian talaga, syempre we're proud na despite na medyo struggling kami, nandyan pa rin sila. Nandyan pa rin kayo na naniniwala kumbaga. Pinaiyak niyo ko ah,” quipped Napa, who also went on to take the blame for their four straight losses.

“Especially ako, kumbaga alam ng mga players ko, syempre tatanungin ko rin sarili ko kung ano problema eh — kung ano problem? Sa akin o sa team? Baka ako yung problema. Pero ako yung may kasalanan sa mga talo na yun.”

Moving forward, Coach Jeff said that this win gave them optimism coming into the next round, and he is expecting his players to build more confidence through this victory.

“Kahit papano, at least yung mga players ko talagang really stepped up, especially ‘tong katabi ko,” said Napa, talking about Padrones. “‘Di siya bumigay eh, ‘di siya sumuko despite na undersized siya. Ang laki talaga ng pinupunan talaga nila na pagkawala eh. Thankful kami sa community talaga, at kahit papano coming to the second round maging maganda at better pa yung performance namin,” he added.

On the other hand, the Blue Eagles absorbed its sixth loss in seven games — sealing one of the worst first-round outings of Ateneo in its history. A few bright spots for them were Andrew Bongo who had 17 points, four rebounds, and an assist, and rookie Jared Bahay’s 15 markers, four dimes, and two boards.  

The Scores:

NU 78 – Padrones 18, Figueroa 15, Enriquez 9, Manansala 8, Garcia 7, Francisco 6, Palacielo 4, Jumamoy 4, Perciano 3, Dela Cruz 2, Lim 1, Santiago 1, Parks 0.

Ateneo 68 – Bongo 17, Bahay 15, Lazaro 7, Gamber 7, Balogun 6, Tuano 5, Espinosa 4, Koon 2, Quitevis 2, Espina 2, Ong 1, Porter 0.

Quarterscores: 15-13, 34-28, 58-46, 78-68.has context menu