After its three-game losing streak, the University of the Philippines was able to come back to the winning column in the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament after escaping University of Santo Tomas, 71-69, Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“We just wanted to get another win after the three losses we had,” said coach Bo Perasol. “This is something that can perk us up and make us believe again that we can still do this.”
Similar to their first encounter in round one, UP streaked past UST to end the game on a high note as they take fifth place in the team standings with a 4-4 card behind Far Eastern University. Meanwhile, UST continued its slump with a depressing 0-8 record.
With 6:07 remaining in the game, UP led by as much as 11 points when Marvin Lee and Vaughn Soriano surged for the Growling Tigers and cut the lead to five, 66-61.
Paul Desiderio and Ibrahim Outtara answered with back-to-back baskets to stop the bleeding, but persistent Lee and Soriano come back with double treys to cut the lead to one, 70-69, 11 ticks left.
Steve Akomo secured a rebound for UST after a split from the line from Jun Manzo with 9.2 seconds left.
Soriano found Lee on the corner for a triple, but Lee’s two attempts to save the Growling Tigers from another loss was crushed as the ball bounced out of the rim.
The Fighting Maroons forced UST 23 turnovers that led to 24 points, but the Tigers dominated the rebounding department with 61-40.
“Every time we go up against UST, it’s always going to be a classic for us,” added Perasol. “Kasi I don’t think that we will be able to out-rebound the line-up of UST and true enough, we’re almost out-rebounded by 21.”
Jan Jaboneta paced UP with 12 points, while Manzo and Desiderio combined for 21 points on 8-for-32 shooting from the field. Outtara added nine points and 11 rebounds in the win.
Lee led UST with a game-high 17 points, while Soriano added a career-high 14 points. Akomo chipped in seven points, 20 rebounds and four blocks in the losing effort.
