Back on track: UE bounces back from La Salle loss with rout of NU
MANILA, Philippines – After seeing their five-game winning streak snapped, the UE Red Warriors got back on track in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament following a 74-58 rout of the NU Bulldogs at the Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday, October 26.
Precious Momowei led the charge for the Red Warriors with a monster double-double of 17 points and 17 rebounds as they bounced back big from their previous loss to the La Salle Green Archers and solidified their hold of the No. 3 spot with a 6-3 record.
Despite coming off a two-week break, the Red Warriors hardly looked like they missed a beat as they immediately built a double-digit advantage over the Bulldogs, 11-1, off a free throw by Momowei with 3:12 to go in the opening period.
The Red Warriors last saw action on October 12 as their scheduled second-round assignments last October 20 against the FEU Tamaraws and October 23 versus the UP Fighting Maroons got moved to later dates.
“Actually, the postponement of our games have positive and negative sides,” said UE coach Jack Santiago in Filipino.
“Negative because the players got rusty. Positive because the guys who had injuries were able to recover and we were also able to give some minutes to guys who don’t get much playing time,” he added.
UE failed to take care of its early double-digit spread as NU managed to climb back and briefly overtake the Red Warriors, 24-23, off a Jake Figueroa triple late in the second quarter.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, that proved to be their only lead of the match as the Red Warriors ended the second period on a 5-0 run for a 28-24 halftime edge.
A triple by Wello Lingolingo at the start of the third quarter then sparked a massive 25-11 Red Warriors rally to turn their slim 28-24 lead to a comfortable 53-35 cushion heading into the final frame.
UE never looked back from that point on, even extending its lead to as many as 23 points, 69-46, at the 4:22 mark of the fourth quarter.
After a lackluster two-point showing against La Salle, the sharpshooting Lingolingo redeemed himself as he finished with 14 points, all coming in the second half.
Ethan Galang also breached double-digit scoring for the Red Warriors with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc.
Tebol Garcia was the lone bright spot for the Bulldogs, putting up a team-high 12 points on an efficient 3-of-5 field goal clip.
Jolo Manansala backstopped Garcia with 11 points, but shot just 4-of-13 from the field.
NU remained winless in three games in the second round and saw its record drop further to 2-8.
The Scores
UE 74 – Momowei 17, Lingolingo 14, Galang 12, Maga 9, Abate 6, Cruz-Dumont J. 5, Fikes 3, Mulingtapang 2, Wilson 2, Robles 2, Spandonis 2, Cruz-Dumont H. 0, Malaga 0, Finney 0, Go 0, Jimenez 0.
NU 58 – Garcia 12, Manansala 11, Figueroa 9, Enriquez 7, Palacielo 7, Tulabut 3, Parks 3, Lim 3, Perciano 2, Santiago 1, Padrones 0, Jumamoy 0, Yu 0, Dela Cruz 0, Francisco 0.
Quarters: 13-6, 28-24, 53-35, 74-58.
– Rappler.com