NU Bulldogs run the Altas to the ground for fifth Filoil win

Bulldogs run the Perpetual Help Altas to the ground for fifth win

 by rick olivares

May 3, 2013

San Juan Arena

Ray Parks drove hard along the baseline when Harold Arboleda slid in to impede his path. Knowing he’d be whistled for an offensive foul, Parks rose into the air but instead of taking a pull up jumper, he whipped out a no-look pass to teammate Robin Roño who was straddling the apex of the three-point arc.

Swish. The score was 74-38 for the National University Bulldogs.

Forty-seconds later, at the 2:51 mark of the third period, on a fastbreak opportunity, Roño drove towards the basket where he was met by University of Perpetual Help Alta forward-center Justin Allano. Roño threw the ball to his left where Parks was waiting just above the three-point line. In one motion, the two-time UAAP Most Valuable Player went up and nailed a triple for a 77-38 lead.

The humming, gunning, and perfect Bulldogs got out to a good start and never stepped off the gas pedal against the short-handed Altas for a 94-75 win.

The sequence between Parks and Roño typifies the trust that the son of former PBA great Bobby Parks has in his teammates. In an earlier play, NU’s Cameroonian center Alfred Aroga had his drive disrupted and the ball skittered out to Parks who was on the three-point line. Parks threw the ball up in the air that Aroga caught for a nasty one-handed jam.

“Broken play,” remarked Parks. “But we made the most out of it.” The Bulldogs had 22 assists to the measly five of Perpetual Help.

The Bulldogs were so good that forward Mark De Guzman rolled out a couple of Stephen Curry moves on EAC. He drove in with a scooped in a lay up and banked in a three-pointer to make it 86-54 with a little over five to play. “Just doing my part,” quipped De Guzman.

“I’m happy with the way we played defense at the beginning,” said a happy NU head coach Eric Altamirano. “But we had a lot of turnovers at the end.”

The Bulldogs led, 36-16 after the first period and went up to its biggest lead of 40 points at 83-43 after a difficult drive by Glenn Khobuntin with 8:34 left to play.

But the Altas, playing without the injured Earl Scottie Thompson and Nigerian center Femi Babayemi, threw a 3-2 zone at NU at the start of the fourth period. The defensive scheme saw the lead whittled down to 27 but it was too late to make a difference. “That’s something we need to work on – our endgame consistency,” added Altamirano.

NU was without Gelo Alolino and Jean Mbe who are still recovering from injuries.

Parks led NU with 20 points while Aroga added13 and Denice Villamor chipped in 10 markers including two triples.

Juneric Baloria led the Altas with 18 points while Gerald Dizon and Nosa Omorogbe added 16 and 13 respectively.

NU 94 – Parks 19, Aroga 13, Villamore 10, Roño 9, De Guzman 9, Javillionar 8, Labing-Isa 7, Rosario 4, Perez 4, Javelona 4, Neypes 3, Khobuntin 2, Alejandro 2, Porter 0.

UPHSD 65 – Baloria 18, Dizon 16, Omorogbe 13, Allano 7, Elorpe 5, Arboleda 4, Sadiwa 2, Jolangcob 0, Ylagan 0, Bantayan 0, Lucente 0, Bitoy 0, Oliveria 0, Pupos 0.