By NIKOLE JAVIER
Defending champion National University showed mental fortitude and kept its record-extension title run alive with a a gripping 72-70 win over University of Santo Tomas in the UAAP Season 86 women’s basketball tournament on Sunday, Dec. 3, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With its historic dominance and title on the line, seven-time champion refused to blink and tied the best-of-three title series after a spine-tingling escape to force a winner-take-all.
The deciding Game 3 will be held on Wednesday also at the same venue.
Camille Clarin delivered another splendid performance and finished with 18 points this time to go with eight assists.
Meanwhile, Karl Pingol and Princess Fabruada chipped in 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Angel Surada and Stefanie Berberabe contributed on the defensive end after grabbing 10 rebounds each.
“Buhay pa kami. We always set a modest goal for our team every time and every day we step on the court. The mindset was just to stay alive. ‘Yun lang, we stayed in the present, we don’t even think of Game 1 or Game 3. Our main focus was Game 2 only. Not even thinking about the result of this game, our focus mainly was ‘yung bits and pieces needed to be done in order to get what we wanted,” NU head coach Aris Dimaunahan said.
The Lady Bulldogs recovered in the third period after trailing through the first half, 40-43.
NU leaned on its third-quarter 13-2 surge capped by Clarin’s huge and 1 play to build a 57-52 gap with 1:48 remaining.
The scores:
NU 72 – Clarin 18, Pingol 14, Fabruada 13, Surada 8, Berberabe 5, Solis 5, Canuto 4, Betanio 3, Cayabyab 2, Konateh 0, Bartolo 0.
UST 70 – Pastrana 15, Ferrer 15, Dionisio 15, Tacatac 12, Santos 4, Soriano 3, Bron 3, Maglupay 2, Villasin 1, Ly 0, Ambos 0.
Quarters 21-26, 40-43, 59-57, 72-70.
