By MARK REY MONTEJO
National University may have punched its ticket to the Final Four following a 66-65 thriller over Adamson but head coach Jeff Napa was far from satisfied especially with how his wards played in the contest.
The Bulldogs were playing catch up for the most part of the game before Jake Figueroa and Mark Parks led a late surge to turn things around.
Figueroa and Parks formed a lethal 1-2 combo in the fourth to complete the Bulldogs’ comeback with the latter drilling the game-winning play off an and-one play,
“Alam mo ‘yong panalo ka pero pakiramdam mo talo ka, kasi ‘yong Adamson talagang binigay nila ‘yong best nila. They came out prepared and ready, ” said Napa.
“Siguro ‘yong basketball gods lang talaga ni-bless parin kami despite we played a bad game,” he added. “Kinakatok lang talaga kami… na we need to level up our game, dito [sa second round] mare-recognize kung ano ba talaga kami.”
Napa acknowledged Adamson’s defensive masterclass and emphasized that the Bulldogs would take it as a lesson heading into their upcoming assignments.
“Given na ‘yan… ewan ko ba kung bakit pag Adamson, ganun ‘yong game namin, pero credit sa kanila. They played terrific defense talaga, kaya nga No. 1 [or] 2 defensive team sila rito sa UAAP,” Napa continued. “Ibang klase ‘yong ginagawa nila coach Nash [Racela] do’n.”
It was sort of a repeat for NU as it also barely survived Adamson in their first meeting, 56-54 victory. The Bulldogs also had to overcome a huge 11-point deficit before riding a huge fourth quarter flurry to complete the comeback.
The narrow victory kept the Jhocson-based squad atop the standings with a 9-2 record, further strengthening its bid for a semifinal bonus. Adamson, meanwhile, slipped to sixth place with a 5-6 slate.
