MANILA, Philippines – The UE Junior Red Warriors forced a do-or-die Game 3 in the UAAP junior high school basketball finals, outlasting the UST Tiger Cubs, 76-70, at the Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, December 15.
The Junior Red Warriors used a fiery fourth-quarter surge to extend the title series, outscoring the Tiger Cubs, 23-14, in the final period en route to the Game 2 win.
“I told them that this is a series and you cannot win a series by winning one game…. They don’t want to lose against UST again,” UE head coach Andrew Estrella said in Filipino.
“They responded. They never let up, They stick together as a team and listened to our instructions,” he added.
Mav Mesina led UE with 21 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists, while Neil Garcia chipped in 13 markers and 10 boards.
With the game tied at 70-all, Mesina and Garcia drained two pressure-packed free throws to pull UE ahead in the final two minutes.
UST led by 5 to start the fourth period, until a 15-8 run propelled the Junior Red Warriors to a 68-66 lead after a Jolo Pascual two-pointer.
After tying the game on a Miguel Jubilado jumper, the Tiger Cubs then leaned on star guard Jhon Canapi, who connected on a tough scoop layup to snag back the cushion, 70-68.
But it was all UE from there as the Junior Red Warriors strung 8 straight points to finish the game.
Canapi and Jubilado each had 21 points, while Dustin Bathan added 20 for UST, which stunned league-leading UE in the series opener, 98-84, four days ago. No other Tiger Cubs scored in double digits in Game 2.
UST also played without guard Nickson Cabanero for most of the matchup after committing a disqualification foul late in the first quarter.
“I saw that they kind of relaxed when he was thrown out of the game,” Estrella said. “So what I did was remind them that we cannot let this up and reiterated what we need to do to keep this series going.”
UE outrebounded UST, 69-46, in the game, but the Junior Red Warriors had 16 turnovers, 7 more than the Tiger Cubs.
The winner-take-all Game 3 will be on Wednesday, December 18.
UE 76 – Mesina 21, Garcia 13, Delos Reyes 11, Bungar 9, Pascual 8, Okebata 7, Ferreros 5, Oraa 2, Panganiban 0, Orca 0.
UST 70 – Canapi 21, Jubilado 21, Bathan 20, Castro 6, Lim 1, Balague 1, Villacarlos 0, Cabanero 0, Guinto 0.
Quarters: 21-19, 40-36, 56-53, 76-70.
– Rappler.com
