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Bulldogs show Archers the door
Written by staff   
Friday, 11 September 2009 05:46

MANILA -- The National University (NU) Bulldogs played the spoiler’s role as they abruptly ended the season for the De La Salle Green Archers by giving them a 63-61 beating on Thursday in the 72nd UAAP men’s basketball at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Bulldogs dominated the Archers on the defensive end to shut out DLSU from the Final Four.

La Salle was trailing by only two, 61-63, with 12.8 seconds left in the fourth when Archer Joshua Webb was denied of a clear path to the basket.

This forced him to pass to Hyram Bagatsing in the corner for a potential game-tying jumper.

NU’s big man Jewel Ponferrada, however, denied Bagatsing’s attempt which became the Archers’ last possession of the season.

“Being a young team took its toll. Well, it’s the first time (in my coaching career) that we have a losing record. I told them that we have to learn from the mistakes we did this season,” said La Salle coach Franz Pumaren, almost one hour after the loss that dropped them to 5-9.

The Bulldogs, earlier, shattered the last deadlock, 58-all, with 1:32 minutes left when Ponferrada and Marlon Magat scored inside the paint to give the Bulldogs a precarious four-point lead.

Webb hit three of La Salle’s next four charities as he narrowed the gap, 61-62.

But NU’s Melvin Baloran grabbed his own free throw miss in the other end and caught a foul off Webb.

Baloran, who went 3-for-11 at the stripes, split his free throws just 12.8 remaining to give the Bulldogs the two-point lead they protected until the final buzzer.

“We’ve been longing to win in the second round. Nahihiya na rin kami sa community kaya binigay na ng mga bata dito sa last game,” said a jubilant NU coach Manny Dandan, who last steered the school to its Final Four appearance in 2001.

Dandan felt sorry for the Archers, who were hoping for a win that could have kept their fading semifinal hopes alive.

It was the Bulldogs’ first win over the Archers in six years. They were last triumphant against La Salle Aug. 31, 2003 when they scored 80-51.

“We both played good defense as the low scores indicated and we’re both young teams in rebuilding mode. But the breaks in the endgame went our way. We took advantage well of their shooting woes,” Dandan added.

La Salle, which shot a miserable 30 percent from the field, will miss the Final Four after making it 14 times in the last 15 seasons.

Their only other Final Four miss was when they were suspended in the 2006 season.

Out of their 14 Final Four finishes, La Salle made it into the championship 13 times. By Alder T. Almo

The scores:

NU 63 – Hermosisima 19, Baloran 12, Magat 9, Singh 5, Manito 4, Roy 3, Ponferrada 3, Tungcul 2, Luy 2, Fabula 2, Batac 2, Malanday 0, Cabaluna 0.

DLSU 61 – Barua 17, Webb 12, Malabes 9, Mendoza 8, Co 5, Banal 3, Tolentino 2, Mangahas 2, Ferdinand 2, Bagatsing 1, Villanueva 0, Marata 0, Andrada 0.

Quarters: 17-18, 30-27, 49-44, 63-61.

Tags: NU  UAAP  Araneta Coliseum  DLSU  
Last Updated on Friday, 11 September 2009 05:56
 
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