Alolino late bucket lifts NU over FEU

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Gelo Alolino buried the go-ahead pump fake jumper with 39 seconds remaining and National University squeaked past Far Eastern University, 70-68, in the men’s basketball tournament of UAAP Season 78 on Saturday, November 14, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Veteran guard Alolino drove hard to the basket inside the final minute then faked off a defender to free himself for the game-winning jumper.

The defending champions improved to 7-7 and put pressure on the DLSU Green Archers to win their final game against the Tamaraws on Wednesday, November 18, to set a playoff for the fourth seed.

Should La Salle lose, NU will advance as the fourth seed and take on top seed UST Growling Tigers, who, owing to FEU’s loss, formally clinched the top spot with their 11-3 record.

The Tamaraws, now 10-3, are locked as the second seed regardless of the result of their final game and are set to face the third- place Blue Eagles in the Final Four.

“We know how important this game is. We told the boys we wanted to do our job, control what we can control,” said head coach Eric Altamirano.

“Winning this game was very important to us. I’m so proud of the boys because today we talked about unwavering faith in the system. They were times they struggled but they stuck with the system.”

Altamirano and the Bulldogs displayed tremendous faith in Alolino during the crucial possession, with the game tied at 68 with about a minute left to play. 

The champion coach called a high pick-and-roll play for Alolino, who happily repayed his coach’s trust.

“I’m thankful it went in,” Alolino said in Filipino. “I was just thinking of the team.”

Alolino shot 8-for-21 from the field and finished with a team-high 20 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal.

A critical turnover with 4.2 seconds almost spelled disaster for NU as bigman Alfred Aroga was stripped of the ball by Roger Pogoy. But another veteran guard Mike Tolomia, who was on fire for FEU throughout the contest, saw his shot attempt go in and out in the final possession.

Altamirano was proud of how his team executed the defensive game plan for that final play.

“We knew that they’re going to go to Tolomia so we just had to find a way where to put him in that specific situation,” he explained.

“I think we did a good job there forcing him to his weak side. That’s actually the shot that we wanted him to take. I’m very proud of how the team played defense in that last.”

Aroga, who was beside himself with joy over the victory as he immediately jumped to the stands to hug the NU faithful, wound up with 16 points, 12 boards, and two blocks.

Jeff Javillonar made all 3 of his 3-point attempts for 9 points, while Reden Celda also had 9 markers on top of 5 boards, and two dimes.

Tolomia sizzled for 5-of-8 triples and had a game-high 23 points with 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

Monbert Arong and Russel Escoto added 10 and 9 points, respectively, while Mac Belo struggled off the bench and shot only 3 of his 13 field goals, missing all 4 of his attempts from downtown. Belo had just 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Scores:

NU (70): Alolino 20, Aroga 16, Celda 9, Javillonar 9, Javelona 6, Diputado 4, Alejandro 2, Neypes 2, Salim 2, Abatayo 0, Morido 0.

FEU (68): Tolomia 23, Arong 10, Ru. Escoto 9, Pogoy 8, Belo 8, Tamsi 5, Ri. Escoto 2, Iñigo 2, Orizu 1, Eboña 0, S. Holmqvist 0, Trinidad 0. 

Quarter scores: 14-17, 32-31, 51-50, 70-68.

– Rappler.com