National University clawed its way out of a grind-out game over the dejected University of Santo Tomas, 76-69, to stay unbeaten after three starts in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion Arena.

Jake Figueroa accounted for five of the Bulldogs’ closing 10-2 run to emerge on top of the standings tied with idle Ateneo de Manila University.

The veteran forward poured in 22 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and pulled down nine rebounds in a near double-double performance for NU, which limited the erstwhile unbeaten Tigers to just eight points in the final canto.

“Luckily, our shots were going in. We just tried to stick with our game plan,” Figueroa said.

Gelo Santiago swished in the go-ahead jumper followed by a Figueroa basket for a 70-67 lead by NU with 1:41 left.

Figueroa then drilled a cold-blooded triple over the outstretched hands of UST rookie center Collins Akowe to answer Nic Cabanero’s jumper on the other end to ignite the 6-0 finishing blow.

“I just tried to be a leader inside the court. Coach Jeff (Napa) gave me that responsibility so I have to my job,” Figueroa said as he kept the Bulldogs together in a nip-and-tuck encounter.

Omar John had a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds while swatting away three Tigers attempts as he outplayed Akowe in their much-anticipated showdown.

PJ Palacielo finished with 10 markers for the Bulldogs, who made a great job putting clamps on the 6-foot-10 Akowe from start to finish.

UST fell to a 2-1 win-loss slate tied with De La Salle University.

Cabanero had 19 points and Amiel Acido got 18 markers to pace the Tigers. Mark Llemit scored 12 points and Forthsky Padrigao had 10 in a losing cause.

Akowe, who played for NU-Nazareth School in high school, was limited to five points and eight rebounds, way below the Nigerian’s 24.5 points and 18 rebounds average in his first two outings.