THE UST Tiger Cubs faltered against the Ateneo Blue Eagles, 74-59, and absorbed their third loss in the UAAP Season 86 boys’ basketball tournament at the Filoil EcoOil Centre on Wednesday, Dec. 13.
UST gained a six-point lead early in the first quarter, 11-5, but Ateneo responded with an 8-0 run highlighted by six Lans Lagdamen points to overtake the Tiger Cubs.
The game was tied by the end of the first quarter, 20-all.
The Tiger Cubs held Ateneo to an 18-12 second quarter to eke out a six-point lead at halftime, 38-32.
A triple and mid-range jumper by JB Lim preserved UST’s six-point cushion, 43-37.
However, the Blue Eagles pulled off an 11-5 run to tie the game again at 48-all heading to the payoff period.
Ateneo kept its momentum and buried UST with a 26-11 fourth quarter.
Ateneo capitalized on its defense to limit the Tiger Cubs to a 42-21 second-half performance.
The poor-shooting Tiger Cubs converted only 21 of their 73 attempts from the field (28.8 percent), while the Blue Eagles shot 28 out of their 67 attempts (41.8 percent).
Lim paced UST with 12 points, while Koji Buenaflor chipped in 11 points and six boards in the loss.
Kris Porter led the Blue Eagles with 21 points, 24 rebounds and two blocks.
UST dropped to fourth place with a 3-3 win-loss record, while Ateneo rose to a 2-4 slate.
The Tiger Cubs will conclude their first-round campaign against the Nazareth School of National University on Dec. 17, Sunday, 10 a.m. at the same venue.
