Basketball
NU tops Adamson to notch second win in a row
InterAKTV/Roy Afable
The NU Bulldogs started strong and followed through the rest of the game as they cruised to a 77-62 win over the Adamson Falcons in their first round matchup of UAAP Season 75 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Emmanuel Mbe dominated the paint with 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting and 15 rebounds while MVP Rayray Parks had 12 points, 11 boards and five assists as the Bulldogs picked up their first back-to-back wins of the season.
“We talked about that yesterday. We talked about follow-through,” said NU coach Eric Altamirano. “We wanted to follow through on our win against FEU.”
NU built a double-digit lead early behind 11 first half points from Mbe on a perfect 5-for-5 clip. They entered the halftime break with a 10-point lead, and pushed it up to over 20 points by the end of the third quarter.
They outscored Adamson 27-15 in the third quarter.
“We started strong and we were able to sustain it,” said Altamirano. “Unlike nung FEU game where we started strong and then we lost it after the first timeout. So I think the boys were very focused today.”
“It helped also that (Alex) Nuyles got injured,” he added.
Nuyles was limited to just eight minutes after suffering an injury early in the game. With Nuyles out and Rodney Brondial dealing with foul trouble in the first half, the Falcons just couldn’t keep up with the streaking Bulldogs.
Dennice Villamor and Gelo Alolino added nine and eight points for NU, respectively.
Adamson was led by the 13 points and eight rebounds of Eric Camson and 11 points from Roider Cabrera from off the bench.
With the win, NU moved up to 4-2 while Adamson is now at 1-3.
The scores:
NU (77) – Mbe 20, Parks 12, Villamor 9, Alolino 8, Rosario 7, De Guzman 7, Javillonar 5, Neypes 4, Labing-isa 3, Betayene 2, Singh 0, Rono 0.
Adamson (62) – Camson 13, Cabrera 11, Julkipli 8, Brondial 7, Cruz 5, Petilos 4, Trollano 3, Olalia 3, Monteclaro 3, Nuyles 2, Cabigas 2, Rios 1, Etrone 0, Abrigo 0.
Quarterscores: 20-11, 39-29, 66-44, 77-62.
