THE UST Tiger Cubs survived a furious comeback attempt and toppled the FEU Baby Tamaraws after a clutch basket by Carl Manding, 82-81, in the UAAP Season 86 boys’ basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.
The Tiger Cubs controlled most of the game, closing the third quarter with a 27-point lead, 71-44.
FEU sparked a 21-3 run capped by Veejat Pre’s jumper to cut the Tiger Cubs’ lead to nine with 4:22 remaining, 74-65.
UST was able to increase its lead to 11 with less than two minutes remaining, 80-69, but FEU went on a 12-0 surge capped by a Cabs Cabonilas layup that propelled the Baby Tamaraws to a one-point lead with 8.1 seconds left, 81-80.
Manding saved the day for UST after converting a game-winning layup with 2.5 seconds remaining, 82-81. Salangsang, who made two triples in FEU’s pivotal 12-0 run, missed his three-point attempt at the buzzer.
The Tiger Cubs opened the second quarter with a 16-6 blast of FEU, eight of which came from Joaquin Ludovice, to mount a commanding 19-point lead at the half, 42-23.
“Syempre sabi ko nga sakanila, defending champions ‘yan, hindi yan bibigay basta-basta,” UST head coach Manu Iñigo told post-game. “Buti yung mga players ko nung last minute, nagising… Luckily, nakadeliver kami sa huli.”
FEU scored 37 points in the fourth quarter, while holding the Tiger Cubs to 11 markers.
Ludovice paced UST with 25 points, four assists and two steals on 66.7 percent shooting from the field, while Velasquez, Manding and JB Lim scored 10 points each.
Pre tallied a double-double performance for FEU with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
With the win, the Tiger Cubs are now tied with Nazareth School of National University for second place in the standings with identical 2-1 records.
As of writing, there is no schedule for UST’s next game in the tournament.
