The DLSU Green Archers’ second-round momentum hit a roadblock after succumbing to the NU Bulldogs in a heartbreaking 84-80 defeat in their UAAP Season 89 Men’s Basketball Tournament showdown earlier today, November 8, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Despite the loss, Doy Dungo paced the Green-and-White with a team-high 19 points, alongside four assists. Joaquin Tovera and Henry Agunanne also pitched 12 points apiece in the valiant effort.
On the other end of the court, Reinhard Jumamoy led the Blue-and-Gold with 21 points while dishing six assists. Mo Diassana followed, commanding the paint and contributing 19 points in the victory.
Frantic runs
With the battle for the second seed underway, both squads came out of the gate red hot, leaving no time for defense to mount. Jumamoy and PJ Palacielo capitalized on quick paint transitions while Dungo responded from beyond the arc with back-to-back threes to take an early 6-4 lead. La Salle slowed down the pace of the opening minutes, opting to run their set plays. As the frame dragged on, baskets kept pouring in from the charity stripe and the painted area. With no let-up on the pedal, NU came out on top with an and-one play conversion from Macmac Alfanta.
The Lasallian faithful cheered as Jacob Cortez made his long-awaited return, substituting in for Tovera. The Taft-based squad still had no answers in the paint, showing cracks as Diassana freed up for a slam dunk to empower the Bulldogs’ charge. Dungo refused to waver, meanwhile, swishing another three off the Luis Pablo hand-off. Cortez kicked off his frenzy, nailing a fadeaway and converting a stepback, while Mason Amos added another driving layup to tie the game at 21-all. After Vhoris Marasigan’s charity throw, DLSU overcommitted the paint, leaving DJ Laconsay open for a three to end the first, 24-22, in favor of the blue shirts.
With the paint threat haunting the Green-and-White, Seven Gagate and Agunanne stepped in as the double-big lineup to lock the paint. The composition proved effective, with the latter converting an and-one and the former cutting baseline to retake the lead, 27-24. Despite the changes, the Bulldogs cruised to an 8-0 scoring run with all buckets in the paint. Diassana capped it off with an emphatic putback dunk in transition, 32-27, forcing La Salle to head back to the drawing board.
Abadam paced the Green Archers with a crafty bucket to douse the Sampaloc flame. However, NU disrupted La Salle’s pick-and-roll plays, anticipating the dishes inside. Fouls and technicals rained down on the Taft-based squad after unsportsmanlike conduct, delighting the blue shirts. Dungo’s third foul drew jeers from the Lasallian faithful as the Sampaloc-based squad expanded its lead, 37-29. Despite the fouls, Dungo stayed in and stacked a three, while Tovera swished his own corner three, 39-35, as the Blue-and-Gold called time to hash out their strategies. The final minutes saw physical cage fights in the paint, with and-ones and putbacks left and right. Yet Cortez took matters into his own hands with a breakaway spin to end the first half trailing, 47-42.
Closing blows
The Green Archers headed into the third with a shaky start, as the Bulldogs capitalized on their turnovers to build on their first-half lead. The white shirts eventually settled their offense with effective ball movement, finding openings inside the paint. Abadam then sparked the rally with a dunk off a Cortez assist. Tovera then cut through the Bulldogs’ interior defense to convert a three-point opportunity to trim the deficit, before Agunnane followed with a putback to hand the Green Archers their first lead of the quarter at 55-54. His presence on both ends continued to pay off as he blocked an NU attempt, setting up Macalalag’s midrange jumper for a 57-54 advantage. Tovera added another basket inside to extend the lead to 59-54 and capped off a 10-0 run that forced the blue shirts to respond quickly. The Sampaloc-based squad eventually ended their scoring drought at the free-throw line, but Tovera’s pull-up jumper kept the Taft-based squad ahead, 61-58.
The fourth quarter unfolded much like the teams’ gripping first-round meeting, with neither side willing to give up ground. Jumamoy opened the period with a triple to knot the score at 61-all before Alfanta’s fadeaway briefly put the blue shirts ahead. Agunnane kept the Green Archers within striking distance with a putback, but Jumamoy continued finding his mark from deep, preventing La Salle from gaining control.
A series of unsportsmanlike fouls sent both teams to the line, where Dungo converted twice from the charity stripe, and Abadam added another free throw to make it 70-69, but Jumamoy shifted the momentum back to NU with back-to-back triples that stretched the Bulldogs’ lead to 77-70. With the game slipping away, Abadam answered with a three-pointer before driving, sparking his own 5-0 run to cut the deficit to two, 77-75. Dungo followed with a triple to bring the white shirts within one, 79-78, and Cortez’s floater briefly put them back in front, 80-79. However, Francisco responded from beyond the arc to restore the blue shirts’ lead, 82-80. The Green Archers had one final opportunity to turn the game around, but Dungo’s attempt from deep fell short. After the guard fouled out with 30 seconds remaining, Palacielo converted two free throws to seal the Bulldogs’ 84-80 victory.
With little time to dwell on the loss, the defending champions look to regain their footing as they prepare to take on the AdU Soaring Falcons on Sunday, November 15, at 2:30 pm at the same venue, aiming to get their momentum back on track.
The Scores:
DLSU 80 – Dungo 19, Agunanne 12, Tovera 12, Abadam 10, Macalalag 10, Cortez 8, Amos 4, Marasigan 3, Gagate 2, Pablo 0, Gomez 0
NU 84 – Jumamoy 21, Diassana 19, Palacielo 14, Francisco 9, Garcia 9, Alfanta 5, Padrones 4, Laconsay 3, Reyes 0, Cartel 0, Solomon 0
Quarter Scores: 22-24, 42-47, 61-58, 80-84