Bullpups clinch 1st UAAP jrs basketball crown

National University clinched its first UAAP juniors basketball crown after beating Far Eastern University, 72-63, in Sunday's Game 3 of the 74th season finals at The Arena in San Juan City. NU, one of the UAAP's founding members, is known to be the league's whipping boys in the past but is expected to shed the tag with SM Group founder Henry Sy Jr. bankrolling the Bulldogs' sports program. Ralph Tansingco scored 18 points while Ralph Busa added 15 markers for the Bullpups, whose senior counterparts—the Bulldogs—have men's Most Valuable Player (MVP) Bobby Ray Parks in their roster. NU forward Ralph Atangan tallied 18 points and 11 rebounds to emerge as the finals Most Valuable Player (MVP). The Bullpups had to labor past the highly-favored Baby Tamaraws, the top seeded squad after the elimination round. Atangan converted on a layup then sank two free throws to give the Bullpups breathing space, 70-62, with 32.4 seconds remaining in the do-or-die match. "Hindi kami makapaniwala na nasa finals kami. Naniwala lang kami sa sistema at sa support ng NU community (We can't believe that we played in the finals. We just believed in the system and the NU community's support)," said Atangan. For Bullpups head coach Jeff Napa, it was a dream come true—an achievement he failed to experience as a Bulldog. "Ito ang pinakapangarap namin ni [assistant coach] Chico Manabat na hindi namin na-fulfill as a player. Kahit paano nanalo na rin ako sa basketball, as a coach (Assistant coach Chico Manabat and I have been dreaming of this moment, we failed to achieve this as a player. I finally won a basketball title, as a coach)," said the 31-year-old Napa, who was a key player when the Bulldogs made a rare Final Four appearance in the 2001 season. The Bullpups' road to the finals was tough. They had to beat the La Salle-Zobel Junior Archers twice in the Final Four, before forcing the Baby Tamaraws to a do-or-die match for the title. FEU won Game 1, 71-67, but lost to the spirited NU squad in Game 2, 57-46, when Typhoon Pedring was ravaging Luzon last week. Season MVP Jerie Pingoy had 15 points, eight rebounds, six steals and six assists for FEU while Joshua Aguilon chipped in 15 markers. — JVP, GMA News