Top meets bottom as NU battles UP

By Josiah Albelda Posted Sep 4th 2013

Now solo leaders, National University takes on cellar-dweller University of the Philippines on Wednesday at 2 p.m. in the 76th UAAP men's basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Bulldogs are gunning for their sixth straight win and coach Eric Altamirano has vowed that they will not be taking the winless Fighting Maroons lightly.

"We'll not overlook any game. We have to value every game," said Altamirano after steering NU to a win over University of the East. "We need to have a sense of urgency in every game to be able to reach our target."

That target is a twice-to-beat advantage and with an 8-3 record, the Bulldogs need to win at least two of their next three games to secure the playoff edge.

Against a UP squad that hasn't won a single game this season, that could be an easy task to do, especially with NU playing inspired basketball since the turn of the second round.

Jean Mbe and Ray Parks each scored 18 points against the Red Warriors but the Bulldogs have proven in this run that they could function well even with their two stars playing below potential.

Meanwhile, the Maroons can't catch a break and fell to their 10th straight loss at the hands of Adamson University last Saturday.

The game will air live on Studio 23, BALLS HD 167 and uaapsports.tv with a same day replay at 6 p.m. on BALLS SkyCable channel 34 or Destiny Cable channel 36.