THE UNDEFEATED UST Tiger Cubs withstood a furious fourth quarter rally by the Far Eastern University-FERN Baby Tamaraws and held on to a 81-72 win in the Filoil Flying V Premier Preseason League at the Arena in San Juan Friday.
RJ Abarrientos’ layup cut UST’s 18-point advantage to three with 4:53 left in the game. But the Tiger Cubs responded with five straight points.
The Baby Tamaraws retaliated with a 6-2 run to keep it close at 70-74 with a minute and 44 seconds remaining.
Paolo Hernandez’ two free throws and TJ Dela Cruz’ three-point play secured UST’s third straight win.
“Yung character ng mga bata, lumabas na. Hindi sila nara-rattle kahit bumababa na ‘yung lamang, andoon pa rin ‘yung depensa kaya naibabalik natin ‘yung lead,” UST head coach Chris Cantonjos told the Varsitarian.
UST, which led by just six points after the first half, turned it up a notch behind an 18-6 run to lead by 18, 51-33, before FEU came back off a 17-7 spurt.
Tiger Cub Kobe Palencia followed up his impressive debut with 16 points and six assists while Rafael Biag chipped in 13.
LJ Gonzales and RJ Abarrientos had 15 markers apiece for the Baby Tamaraws.
