MANILA – Ilonggo Gerry Abadiano had another solid outing as the National University Bullpups clinched a final four seat in the UAAP Season 81 juniors basketball with an 82-67 win over De La Salle-Zobel Junior Archers on Wednesday at San Juan Arena.
The former St. Robert’s International Academy Panda Rockets guard led the Bullpups with double-double 20 points and 15 rebounds to become the first team to clinch a semifinals seat.
With the Bullpups decimated with the ejection of star guard Terrence Fortea, the Junior Archers were able to keep in step with their opponents and were just down 57-60 heading into the fourth.
The Bullpups, however, came alive at the right time behind Abadiano to create distance from the Junior Archers before Carl Tamayo also made his contributions inside to seal the win.
Pavia, Iloilo native John Bryan Sajonia also had an impressive showing as the Far Eastern University Baby Tamaraws cruised to a 99-82 victory over the University of the East Junior Warriors.
Sajonia, formerly of Santa Clarita International School Primes, finished with 22 points behind leading scorer Xyrus Torres, who had 24 markers. The Baby Tamaraws improved to 8-3 card.
Elsewhere, Negrense guard Mark Nonoy tallied 27 markers but proved to be not enough as the University of Santo Tomas Tiger Cubs suffered a close 67-69 loss to Adamson University Baby Falcons./PN
