By Ivan Saldajeno
SAN JUAN, MM—NU withstood an explosion from Paul Desiderio and downed UP, 75-64, to clinch a quarterfinal spot in the FilOil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup at the FilOil Flying V Centre on Thursday.
The Bulldogs put to naught a 28-point performance from Desiderio by going for a 23-10 third quarter to blow the game wide open.
Cederick Labing-isa and JV Gallego each scored 14 points for NU, which will face Arellano on Sunday for the top seed in Group A.
Jett Manuel added 12 markers for UP, which is in danger of missing the playoffs with their third straight loss.
Box Scores:
NU 75-Labing-isa 14, Gallego 14, Salem 12, Aquino 10, Morido 4, Mosqueda 4, Salim 4, Diputado 4, Aroga 3, Lastimosa 2, Yu 2, Go 2, Cauilan 0, Rangel 0
UP 64-Desiderio 28, Manuel 12, Moralde 8, Webb 6, Harris 4, Romero 4, Tekoudjou 2, Dario 0, Asilum 0, Longa 0
Quarterscores: 17-8, 34-28, 57-38, 75-64
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