MANILA, Philippines — The NU Bulldogs kept their UAAP Season 87 men's basketball flickering Final Four chances alive after scoring a shocking 67-47 beatdown of the UP Fighting Maroons at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion on Sunday.
NU improved to 3-8, tied with Ateneo de Manila from seventh to eight places, to keep itself in contention for a semifinal spot.
But grounded in reality, coach Jeff Napa knows that making the Final Four at this point is as far-fetched as it sounds for the Bulldogs.
With that in mind, he wants his players to release the pressure of trying to make it to the semis and instead just think about finishing their tumultuous season on a high note.
"We're no longer thinking of whether or not we're going to make the Final Four," said Napa, whose team needs to win its last three games and hope the teams above them lose theirs to make the semis.
"My only request to my players is for them to finish our season on a high note. I don't want to add pressure anymore for us to try and catch a semis bus. The mindset I'm instilling in them is to just end this season on a high note."
Losing their foreign student big man Mo Diassana to a knee injury right in the season-opener, the Bulldogs, who made the Final Four last year, struggled big time.
But on that Sunday afternoon against UP, NU was firing on all cylinders, shooting 43.9 percent from the field including an impressive 41.2 percent from beyond the arc.
Patrick Yu led the Bulldogs attack with 17 points built on a 5-of-7 three-point shooting as they put an end to a three-game skid.
The Bulldogs also held the Fighting Maroons to just 26.2 percent shooting and forced them to commit 30 turnovers as they scored 30 off of it.
"I told them that let's finish strong this season. That's our mindset. We did what's right, we followed our game plan, and we got the W," said Napa.
"We're undermanned but finally our shooters were able to connect. It's very important for us to connect from the outside and follow our game plan on defense properly."
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