The UST Growling Tigers capped their Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup campaign with an 81-77 loss against the Letran Knights at the San Juan Arena on Wednesday.
The Tigers went on a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter courtesy of clutch triples by Sherwin Concepcion and Bryan Santos to tie the game at 77-all with 30 seconds remaining.
Ex-Tiger Brent Paraiso made a driving layup to give Letran the lead with 16 seconds left.
UST sharpshooter Sherwin Concepcion missed a go-ahead triple that would have put the Tigers up by one.
Two made free throws by King Caralipo sealed the win for the Knights.
The Knights shot an efficient 45 percent from the field (31 of 68 field goal attempts), while the Tigers only made 33 percent of their attempts (26 of 78). Twenty-eight of Letran’s 31 makes from the field were assisted.
Concepcion and Santos led the Tigers in scoring with 19 points apiece, while Nicael Cabañero had 15 points and 6 rebounds.
For Letran, Caralipo scored 18 points, Neil Guarino had 15 points and Paraiso chalked up 12 markers.
The Tigers only won two of their seven Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup games.
