Bulldogs hold off Archers to snap losing skid

After two straight defeats, National University had had enough.

With Bobby Ray Parks doing what he does best in the payoff canto, the Bulldogs pulled away for a 63-56 victory over La Salle Green Archers to cap their first round campaign in the UAAP Season 76 men’s cage action on a high note at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

The 6-foot-3 Parks canned eight of his game-high 20 points in the pivotal quarter, including back-to-back triples that ignited a decisive 10-to-nothing breakaway, before NU fended off a late-game rally from stubborn La Salle.

The win enabled the Bulldogs to forge a three-way tie at second spot with University of Santo Tomas and University of the East.

The Green Archers dropped to 3-4, tying archrival and reigning five-time titlist Ateneo and host Adamson in the process.

Based on the quotient system, the Growling Tigers finished the first round in second place, the Bulldogs third place and the Warriors fourth, while the Green Archers finished fifth, the Blue Eagles sixth and the Falcons seventh.