MANILA, Philippines – Few teams in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball field can top loaded UST when playing at its absolute best, and the Tigers showed just that to end their first-round campaign, outgunning the FEU Tamaraws, 83-72, at the Mall of Asia Arena, on Saturday, October 5.
With the win, the once-languishing Tigers program ended the first half of the eliminations with a winning 4-3 record in fourth place, just behind top squads UP (6-0), La Salle (5-1), and red-hot UE (4-2).
Big man Mo Tounkara, after six games of rather underwhelming rebounding numbers, proved what he was capable of when fully motivated to crash the boards, exploding with a 21-point, 17-rebound double-double on 9-of-18 shooting.
Steering that winning offense was star guard Forthsky Padrigao, who likewise finished with a double-double of 14 points and 11 assists plus 4 boards in just 24 minutes of action, as Nic Cabañero (13 points), Christian Manaytay, and Gelo Crisostomo (11 points each) also feasted on offense.
“I think it’s a big win for us because coming from a two-game losing streak, and the response of the team was to stop that losing streak, as in we just stuck together and focused on defense,” said UST assistant coach Japs Cuan.
Stuck in a 38-all deadlock against win-starved FEU midway through the third, UST leaned on its Padrigao-Tounkara combo to create a comfortable cushion, firing away a 19-7 run to peak with a 12-point gap, 57-45, off a Mark Llemit layup with 1:55 left in the frame.
Unfortunately for the Tamaraws, they only managed a give-and-take affair with the Tigers for much of the payoff period, only inching as near as 5, 70-75, before Padrigao and Tounkara again sparked a quick 6-0 blitz in just 32 seconds to stretch into an insurmountable 81-70 lead with 1:23 left to play.
Jorick Bautista paced FEU’s sixth loss in seven games with 17 points, as four other Tamaraws breached double-digit scoring, including 14 from VJ Pre and 13 from fellow star rookie Janrey Pasaol.
UST and FEU return to action next weekend after a one-week break, either on Saturday, October 12 or Sunday, October 13.
UST 83 – Tounkara 21, Padrigao 14, Cabanero 13, Crisostomo 11, Manaytay 11, Lane 5, Llemit 2, Calum 2, Danting 2, Acido 2, Pangilinan 0, Estacio 0, Paranada 0.
FEU 72 – Bautista 17, Pre 14, Pasaol 13, Daa 11, Konateh 10, Alforque 4, Montemayor 3, Ona 0, Nakai 0, Jones 0, Bagunu 0.
Quarters: 19-15, 34-32, 59-51, 83-72.
