Tag: No. 4

UST Growling Tigers are back in the chase for the elusive UAAP title for the third time in four years after dethroning defending champions National University Bulldogs, 64-55 in the semifinals of the UAAP Season 78 men’s basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum last Nov. 22.

UST was up by double digits for most of the final frame, with their largest lead at 16 points, following Kevin Ferrer’s baseline jumper off a crossover that put former Tiger Cub Kyle Neypes down on the floor with 6:40 remaining.

NU resorted to fouling Jon Sheriff, a 48.9-percent free throw shooter, to try to eat into UST’s lead. The fourth-year guard nailed only three of his 10 attempts as UST’s lead dwindled to seven, 62-55, with 27 ticks left.

THE UST Eco-Tigers are all set for the 2016 Shell Eco-Marathon Asia with improved vehicles to boost the University’s ranking.

After a year of designing and fabricating their entries, the Eco-Tigers, a team composed of engineering students, will parade their official entries “T400D” and “T400E” for the prototype and urban concept categories.

“We are more prepared this year and our aim is to top the competition. We are 100-percent confident that we can beat our previous record,” prototype team manager John Raymond Cornes said in an interview.

THE SHIFT in academic calendar, which also adjusted the UAAP schedule, provided extra training and recovery time for UST athletes, who now sit at the top of the overall ranking.

With five out of eight participating schools adjusting their academic calendars, host University of the Philippines moved the schedule of the UAAP Season 78 two months later than the usual July opening.

If last year’s schedule was adapted, the basketball championships should have been done by now and the second semester tournaments should have started already.

This change proved pivotal in UST’s overall championship campaign especially for the men’s basketball team, which is now in the Finals after an injury-plagued season 77.

THE UST Tigresses failed to notch a semifinals spot for the first time in three years following a 53-64 overtime loss in their do-or-die game against the Ateneo Lady Eagles in the UAAP Season 78 women’s basketball tournament held at the Ateneo Blue Eagle Gym last Nov. 18.

The Tigresses finished fifth place with a 6-9 record.

After forcing overtime, the Tigresses ran out of steam and blew their chance to take the lead after missing all of their four fastbreak layup attempts.

The Tigresses trimmed Ateneo’s 16-point lead to six at the start of the fourth quarter, 34-40, after a furious 17-7 run led by Misaela Larosa and team captain Maica Cortes.

NUMBERS don’t lie.

What went wrong with the UST Growling Tigers this season boiled down to inconsistency and shaky offense, as shown by data from Imperium, UAAP’s official statistics company.

In half of their 14 games, the Growling Tigers performed poorly in the first three quarters before getting their rhythm in the final period. They had four games where they collapsed in the end after an aggressive start.

The Tigers also slumped in offense as they only made a total of 309 field goals to rank seventh in the league. They also placed sixth in field goal percentage, shooting only an average of 35.7 percent.

THE UST Paddlers missed a shot at the crown after stumbling against the third-seeded University of the Philippines in the Final Four of the UAAP Season 77 table tennis tournament last Oct. 1 at the Blue Eagle Gym in Ateneo de Manila University.

The Tiger Paddlers settled for third place after squandering their twice-to-beat advantage against the Maroons in the semifinals, losing 1-3 and 2-3, in the first and second matches, respectively.

In the knockout match, the UST duo of Alberto Bazar and Norielle Pantoja steered the Tiger Paddlers to a 2-1 lead after a convincing 3-1 win over their UP counterparts.

THE UST Junior Golden Tigresses lost their title after succumbing to a determined National University side, 21-25, 26-28, 28-26, 12-25, in Game 2 of the UAAP Season 77 girls' volleyball tournament at the Adamson Gym last Oct. 2.

The Lady Bullpups clinched their first UAAP girls’ volleyball title.

Down two sets to none, the Golden Tigresses uncorked a quick 5-0 run to gain the lead late in the third set, 20-18.

Czarina Cudias then sealed a tight frame with a service ace to keep UST’s title hopes alive, 28-26.

But the Tigresses couldn’t stop a rampaging NU side as the Lady Bullpups cracked the fourth set with a commanding 11-point lead, 8-19, after Caitlyn Viray unleashed five aces.

FROM a tag-along to a superstar.

Paul Romero has come a long way from simply accompanying his sister to her taekwondo training after the Tiger Jins team captain notched four gold medals in his five-year UAAP stint.

The recently awarded Most Valuable Player of the men’s taekwondo tournament said he was thankful to his sister for introducing him to the sport.

“Taekwondo is a common interest in our family. My sister was the first to try the sport. She urged me to give it a try and later on it became our quality time when we were kids,” Romero told theVarsitarian.

Romero started training taekwondo at 8 years old and admitted that he dreamt of being a part of the UST Jins, a powerhouse in the UAAP.

THE UST Tigersharks clinched the third spot while the Female Tigersharks returned from a year of hiatus to bag fourth during the UAAP Season 77 swimming competitions at the Rizal Memorial Stadium last Oct. 2 to 5.

After placing fourth for the last two seasons, the Male Tigersharks collected a total of one silver and six bronze medals for 187 points to finish third overall behind Ateneo De Manila University (540 points) and University of the Philippines (325 points).

UST rookie Francis Marquez delivered the lone silver medal for the Tigersharks in the men’s 200-meter backstroke after clocking in at 2:17.14 behind Ateneo’s Gerard Reyes with 2:13.99.

Top Tigress Lore Rivera ended her collegiate career without a title, her squad’s final game against Far Eastern University (FEU) still haunting her.

With the Lady Tamaraws ahead only by a point, the former national team standout recalled how confident she was that she can execute the game-winning play designed for her.

“I told myself, ‘I can do it.’ I knew I can make the basket and the game was still ours,” she recalled.

But Rivera couldn’t deliver despite 3.8 seconds still left in the game as the Tigresses missed a chance to meet defending champion De La Salle University for a shot at the title.

Rivera, 21, recalled weeping afterward, realizing she was ending her stint with UST without a title.