The UE Red Warriors extended their win streak to three after another big win, this time over the NU Bulldogs in UAAP Season 87.
The UE Red Warriors kept the good vibes going as they stretched their winning run to three games, beating the NU Bulldogs, 57-51, to strengthen their bid for a Final Four slot in UAAP Season 87 at the Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday, September 28.
Fresh off of a resounding upset over defending champions DLSU, the Red Warriors also hit the ground running against another Final Four team last year in the Bulldogs.
[Related: Wello Lingolingo clutch as streaking UE piles on NU’s woes in UAAP Season 87]
Going back-and-forth throughout the game, UE came out victorious in the end thanks to clutch shots and a no-quit mindset that head coach Jack Santiago was happy to see in his players – especially since they were on a high after the win over La Salle.
“I consider my boys still young pa rin. Marami pa rin akong mga batang players. But I’m so happy that the boys are starting to have that character, that winning character,” said Santiago.
“Yun yung fear ko talaga na coming off of a big win against the number one team, kinakabahan talaga ako sa next game namin na baka maging complacent yung mga bata… So I’m happy lang na down the stretch, we stepped up and we played as a team,” he added.
The Red Warriors dug deep to stymie the Bulldogs, who were eager to snap out of their losing slump.
Late in the game, NU got to within one, 50-49, after a Steve Nash Enriquez trip to the charity stripe. But Wello Lingolingo hit a clutch triple to create some distance anew at the 41.4 mark of the fourth.
Even as the Bulldogs kept things interesting into the last 20 seconds after a Jolo Manansala bucket, Lingolingo and Ethan Galang iced the game from the free throw line as they helped UE hang on for the victory.
UE is now 2-1 against Final Four teams from last year, after beating the Green Archers and the Bulldogs. They lost to last year’s runners-up UP in their second game of the season.
The Red Warriors rode a 15-point outing from John Abate to improve to 3-2. He also had six rebounds in the win. Lingolingo, meanwhile, had eight points, and five rebounds. Precious Momowei crashed the boards for the Red Warriors with 20 rebounds, to go along with his five points.
Enriquez paced the Bulldogs in the losing effort with nine points. NU is now losers of four straight and sport a 1-5 slate.
UE will move to its penultimate match of the first round on Wednesday, October 2, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, against the Ateneo Blue Eagles.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs close the first half of the season also against the Katipunan team on Saturday, October 5, at the Mall of Asia Arena.