NU to go all out vs UP

By Josiah Albelda Posted Jul 15th 2013

National University will not pull its punches when it battles winless University of the Philippines in the 76th UAAP men's basketball tournament on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Gunning for their third win in four games, Bulldogs coach Eric Altamirano said that they will take the Fighting Maroons seriously and will take no chances against the league's worst team.

"I know they will be ready," Altamirano said. "We will prepare for them as hard as we prepared for UST."

NU beat the Growling Tigers, 71-67, last Wednesday, with the Bulldogs needing to survive their foul spree in the fourth period, when they gave UST 24 chances at the line.

"I told the boys that we need to keep our composure," Altamirano added. "That's one of the things we really need to work on this season."

Meanwhile, the Diliman-based squad has lost its first three games by a combined 42 points and with their top guns struggling, UP will have to work harder to even keep pace with contenders.

After averaging more than 20 points in his first two outings, Sam Marata was held to a paltry four points in their loss to Far Eastern University.

But if there's anything to cull from the Maroons' dreary stretch is that rookie Kyles Lao has been showing flashes of brilliance, including an 18-point performance against De La Salle University.

The game will air live on Studio 23, BALLS HD 167 and uaapsports.tv with a same day replay at 8 p.m. on BALLS SkyCable channel 34/ Destiny Cable channel 36.