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Bulldogs survive Maroons in controversial UAAP game
For the 10th straight time, victory remains elusive for the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons. The Fighting Maroons pushed the National University Bulldogs to the limit, but fell short in the end, dropping a heartbreaking 59-61 loss Sunday in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum. Given an inspirational talk by former Fighting Maroons coach and now Meralco head bench tactician Ryan Gregorio during a gathering at the Bahay Alumni in UP Friday, the Diliman-based dribblers were fired up and played inspired basketball. They even led 28-20 at the half, until Kokoy Hermosisima and Emmanuel Mbe conspired in the second half and rallied the Bulldogs into the lead. UP was actually down by seven points with under a minute left, but Mike Silungan unloaded a triple from left quarter court that capped his team’s late uprising. Silungan’s triple shoved the Maroons within striking distance, 59-60, 11 seconds left in the game. UP was forced to give up a foul and sent Joseph Terso to the foul line. The Bulldog cager missed both charities and the Maroons rushed to the other end. Alvin Padilla found Dionisio Hipolito inside and was fouled by Mervin Baloran with 2.4 seconds left. But the Maroons’ golden opportunity of finally breaking into the win column didn’t happen when Hipolito missed both free throws and NU’s Jewel Ponferada secured the rebound. Ponferada made the first. The Bulldogs swingman was asked to intentionally miss his second free throw and UP's Mark Juruena was called for a lane violation five times as he was instructed by coach Boyet Fernandez to deliberately commit such infraction. But on the sixth try, Juruena repeated the same action on a missed free throw by Ponferrada, but the referees let it go, allowing the Bulldogs to escape with a win. It was the fourth in 10 games for NU. "Actually, UP wanted to have a double-lane violation so there will be a jump ball," said NU coach Eric Gonzales. "My instruction was for Jewel to miss the second free throw and for the other players to don't enter the lane. So, it became a chess match for us (both teams)." "Maybe this rule could be changed in the future because if that frequently happens, then the game might end up around 6 p.m.," Gonzales added. The non-call on Juruena drew the ire of Fernandez, who stormed in the middle of the court after the match, to plead his case to commissioner Ato Badolato. UP is set to file a protest, not only for that last crucial call, but also to air its side on the missed goal tending call on Mbe, who interfered Padilla’s three-point attempt in the third quarter. "I'm just taking advantage of that rule," said Fernandez. "I'm sorry to the UAAP and to (commissioner) Ato Badolato for my behavior after the game, but I have to point out as to why they let go that final play." Mbe finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds while Hermosisima added 14 points, four rebounds and six assists. Ponferrada had eight points and six boards while Terso hit his lone basket of the game - a three-pointer with 51.1 seconds left that made it 60-53 for NU. Silungan led the Maroons with 17 points and seven boards while Padilla, back from a one-game suspension, had 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals. - RCJ, GMANews.TV
