MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE) – It’s over.

The miracle run has finally hit a dead end for the University of the East (UE) as the Warriors failed short of painting the town red once more, yielding a 68-69 decision to a more composed National University (NU) in the 73rd UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.

Rookie Emmanuel Mbe and Jewel Ponferrada provided the human roadblocks that underscored NU’s crucial stoppage of the Final Four-marching Warriors as they dominated the smaller UE frontline all game long to help the Bulldogs stay within barking distance for the last semis slot.

“We’re looking one game at a time but we still want to enter the Final Four,” NU coach Eric Gonzales said after the Bulldogs climbed to 5-7, just 2 games behind current fourth-placer De La Salle University.

Mbe led NU with 18 points, 9 rebounds and a block, while Ponferrada added 15 plus 8 boards and 4 denials before fouling out late in the fourth quarter, where the Bulldogs sat on a decisive 66-59 cushion before UE mounted its last-ditch attack entering the final 2 minutes.

“This game in a stepping stone for us. UE is such a hard team to beat because they have the best backcourt in the league,” Gonzales added.

James Martinez again stepped up in the clutch, nailing a rare three-point play off Ponferrada’s 5th foul to ignite a 6-0 endgame blitz that pushed the Warriors within, 65-66, with 61 seconds still on the clock.

A freethrow each by Mbe and Kokoy Hermosisima in the next sequence gave NU some breathing room at 68-65, forcing UE to sue time and device a possible equalizer with 21.8 ticks remaining.

But Paul Lee, who is just 4-of-13 from the field, squandered that all-important possession with a hurried jumper against a phalanx of NU defenders as Mervin Baloran collared the loose ball and split his charities to put the Bulldogs up by 4 with 13.1 ticks left.

Raphy Reyes finalized the count with an inconsequential triple with 2 seconds to go.

With the heartbreaking loss, UE is set to miss the Final Four for the first time in 8 years.

But the Warriors didn’t go out without a fight, taking a 39-37 halftime edge with back-to-back threes from rookie Lord Casajeros and Martinez to cap an 11-5 UE at the intermission.

NU responded with a crippling 17-5 blast to grab a 57-46 lead as the Warriors went without a field goal in the last 3:46 of the 3rd period.

A Martinez lay-up and triple to open up the 4th triggered an 8-0 counter-salvo that had the Warriors grabbing the Bulldogs’ coattails at 58-61.

Three gift shots by Hermosisima after a Ponferrada follow-up of an Mbe miss stalled the Warriors’ uprising for a while, 66-58, before Martinez found the rim anew.

Hermosisima also contributed well for the Bulldogs, finishing with 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Ken Acibar led 4 Warriors in double-figures, tallying14 points and 9 rebounds. Martinez chipped in 14 while Paul Zamar and Lee had 11 and 10 markers, respectively.

The Scores:

NU 69 – Mbe 18, Ponferrada 15, Hermosisima 11, Khobuntin 8, Terso 5, Baloran 5, Ignacio 3, Javillonar 2, Tungcul 2, Singh 0, Malanday 0, Magat 0.

UE 68 – Acibar 16, Martinez 14, Zamar 11, Lee 10, Rosopa 6, Reyes 6, Casajeros 5, Santos 0, Tagarada 0, Noble 0, Duran 0.

Quarter scores: 20-16, 37-39, 57-48, 69-68.

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