By Jun Ray Navarres
Top-seeded University of the Philippines hunted down the Growling Tigers of University of Santo Tomas, 83-73 with a fourth quarter rally to secure their seventh win in UAAP S87 men’s basketball tournament, Sunday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
UP improves to 7-1 and ties with De La Salle University at the no. 1 spot after sporting a 16-2 spurt, erasing the 65-61 early advantage of UST to take a 77-67 midway in the final period.
The Growling Tigers tried to retaliate but the Fighting Maroons had answers for everything that’s being thrown at them, maintaining the 10-point gap until the final buzzer.
This win marks the eight straight win of UP against UST, making head coach Goldwin Monteverde undefeated against the Tigers of España.
“Being consistent with what we’ve always said in the first round, responding to the challenge at hand,” said Monteverde
“I believe the team in a way no’ng first half kasi we’ve been forcing UST’s shots but then nako-control nila ‘yung offensive rebounds so the team worked together to control the rebound in the second half.”
Indeed, the Growling Tigers were unleashed in the first half as the fourth-seeded team managed to keep UP at bay and ended the first 20 minutes in a deadlock of 43.
Not for Francis Lopez’ near perfect shooting of 8-9 from the field for a total of 20 points alongside seven boards, the men in maroon might be deep down the rabbit hole.
Also, Terrence Fortea contributed 14 of his 16 points in the second half including nine during the crunch time.
“Nagfocus ako no’ng second half, siguro sa offense namin kung ano ang ibibigay ng depensa iniexplore lang naman namin,“ said Fortea.
Harold Alarcon also proved pivotal, making 11 points in the win. While returning JD Cagulangan added nine points and four assists against four turnovers.
On the other side, Mo Tounkara continues to provide valuable minutes for UST, finishing with 24 points and nine rebounds while senior Nic Cabañero tallied 17 points and nine rebounds.
UP will be facing off National University next Sunday while UST hopes to secure their fifth win against the tall order of the defending champs DLSU on Wednesday.
Images courtesy of UAAP Media Bureau
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