Parks fires 30 as NU blasts UP

By Josiah Albelda Posted Sep 4th 2013

It was like déjà vu for National University and University of the Philippines.

The Bulldogs let the Fighting Maroons battle them toe-to-toe in the first half of the game, only to break away in the third canto to score their sixth straight win in the 76th UAAP men's basketball tournament on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

After a Raul Soyud basket trimmed NU's lead to 45-42 with 7:35 left in the third, the Bulldogs zoomed to a 12-0 blast to build a 57-42 advantage that they would never relinquish.

Two-time MVP Ray Parks played a crucial role in that stretch, contributing six points in the binge and finishing with a season-best 30 markers on top of 10 rebounds and five assists.

Despite holding on to the top record in the UAAP with a 9-3 card, coach Eric Altamirano believes there is still room for improvement for his squad.

"We're happy, but we can still improve," he said. "We cannot rest on our laurels. We have continue to work hard to achieve our goal."

For one, Parks could improve on his field-goal shooting, which broke the 50% mark today as he made 12 of 20 attempts.

Jean Mbe added 14 points and 13 rebounds while Jeff Javillonar, Gelo Alolino and JJ Alejandro chipped in with six markers apiece.

Soyud top scored for UP once more with 17 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks, but the rest of the Maroons could only make 20 of 51 shots in sliding to their 11th straight loss.

The scores:

NU (79) - Parks 30, Mbe 14, Javillonar 6, Alolino 6, ALejandro 6, Khobuntin 5, Villamor 4, De Guzman 4, Rosario 2, Javelona 2, Rono 0, Porter 0, Neypes 0

UP (62) - Soyud 17, Marata 13, Desiderio 8, Lao 6, Gallarza 4, Ball 4, Wong 3, Pascual 3, Paras 2, Harris 2, Asilum 0, Amar 0

Quarters: 24-19, 43-36, 64-47, 79-67