November 12, 2025 | 7:57pm
MANILA, Philippines — Already qualified in the Final Four, National University secured at least a playoff for one of the two twice-to-beat incentives with a tough 70-64 win over Far Eastern University in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
MVP contender Jake Figueroa starred in the clutch once again with a dagger triple in the final minute as the Bulldogs claimed their fourth straight win to leap to 10-2 with two games to spare against first-game winner University of Santo Tomas (6-5), which moved to solo fourth, and the winless University of the East (0-11).
With only titleholder UP (8-3) and La Salle (6-4) left as the teams who could rise to 10 wins, NU is already assured of a knockout battle for the No. 2 seed given a possible tie.
NU wants no complications though with an inside track to seal the No. 1 seed for a bigger chance at a final return after a decade.
“Wala pa kaming napapatunayan. We know FEU na hindi basta-basta bibigay and the players worked hard for this win pero hindi pa rin kami satisfied kasi alam namin namin na hindi magiging madali itong papasok na last stretch,” said coach Jeff Napa. “Lagi naming in-explain sa team ‘yung next level na kailangan naming ma-meet.”
NU built an early 11-point lead but found FEU a tougher nut to track in the second half compared to an 84-68 win in the first round, paving way for another Figueroa takeover en route to finishing with 17 points, six rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block.
PJ Palacielo and Paul Francisco added 10 and nine points, respectively, while Jolo Manansala and Reinhard Jumamoy chipped in eight points each to complement Figueroa, whose trey after the Tamaraws came as close to 63-67 on Jed Daa’s own triple brought the Bulldogs home.
Janrey Pasaol (15) and Kirby Mongcopa (10) paced the Tamaraws in a costly loss to fall to 4-7, needing to win all of its last games and hope for the losses of the squads ahead of them like University Santo Tomas (6-5), Ateneo (5-5) and Adamson (5-6) to stay in contention.
Earlier, UST slightly broke free from that pack with a wire-to-wire 109-97 win over the also-ran UE behind the 19 points of Nic Cabañero in only 23 minutes of play.
Collins Akowe hauled down a 16-16 double-double while Gelo Crisostomo, Forthsky Padrigao and Amiel Acido had 14, 11 and 10 points, respectively, as the Growling Tigers snapped a four-game skid to get back on Final Four contention.
“It was a tough stretch for us with four straight losses. Hindi namin maintindihan kung anong naging problema pero credit lang din sa players na through adversity, we stuck together. Kahit mahirap, naniwala sila sa isa’t,” said assistant coach Japs Cuan as the Growling Tigers brace for a crucial outing against the Blue Eagles right behind them this Saturday.
Wello Lingolingo posted 18 points while Dylan Despi and Precious Momowei tallied 17 points apiece to lead the also-ran Red Warriors (0-11), who absorbed their 18th straight defeat dating back to the second round last season after an impressive 5-2 start.
In women’s basketball, Kent Pastrana rifled in a career-high of 35 points as Final Four-bound UST (11-0) moved closer to a season sweep after a 125-50 trashing of UE (0-11), which slid to its 22nd straight loss since ending a 40-game skid last season.
The scores:
First Game
UST 109 – Cabañero 19, Akowe 16, Crisostomo 14, Padrigao 11, Acido 10, Paranada 7, Llemit 6, Estacio 5, Buenaflor 5, Danting 5, Calum 4, Manding 3, Bangco 2, Laure 2, Bucsit 0.
UE 97 – Lingolingo 18, Despi 17, Momowei 17, Jimenez 15, Lagat 13, Cruz-Dumont 9, Datumalim 7, Distrito 1, Tañedo 0, Mulingtapang 0, Malaga 0, Robles 0.
Quarterscores: 33-16, 57-41, 87-67, 109-97
Second Game
NU 70 – Figueroa 17, Palacielo 10, Francisco 9, Manansala 8, Jumamoy 8, Parks 5, Enriquez 4, Padrones 4, Garcia 2, John 2, Tulabut 1, Dela Cruz 0, Solomon 0.
FEU 64 – Pasaol 15, Mongcopa 10, Daa 7, Owens 7, Bautista 5, Konateh 5, Felipe 5, Montemayor 4, Jones 4, Ona 2.
Quarterscores: 18-13, 38-34, 53-48, 70-64