THE UST Tiger Cubs extended their winning streak to three after pummeling the De La Salle Zobel Junior Archers, 78-66, in the second round of the UAAP Season 86 boys’ basketball tournament at the Filoil EcoOil Centre on Wednesday.
This marked UST’s third straight win, bridging the first and second rounds of the eliminations.
With UST trailing by six, 14-8, back-to-back inside hits by Joaquin Ludovice and Carl Manding pulled the Tiger Cubs to within three, 15-12.
However, the Junior Archers converted 12 points off UST’s nine first-quarter turnovers that allowed La Salle to take back the lead in the opening canto, 18-14.
The Tiger Cubs pulled off a 20-14 second quarter to give UST a two-point lead at halftime.
With UST still up by two early in the third quarter, 40-38, the Tiger Cubs erupted for a 15-6 run capped by an and-one layup by JB Lim to extend their lead to 11, 55-44.
A late and-one inside hit by Daja and a layup by Charles Dimaano trimmed UST’s lead to six heading into the payoff period, 55-49.
Vincent Favis scored eight points in La Salle’s 10-2 start to the fourth quarter to retake the lead, 59-57.
Dungo sank a trey that ignited UST’s late 17-3 surge en route to a 12-point cushion, 74-62, with 2:07 left.
UST never looked back and kept its 12-point lead in the remainder of the match.
“Nakaadjust naman kami nung third [quarter]… ‘Yung natira [na players] doon sa loob iyon ‘yung mga sumunod ng sistema kaya nag-stick ako sa kanila,” UST head coach Manu Iñigo said after the game.
UST improved to a 6-3 win-loss record to keep its hold of the third spot, while La Salle dropped to a 2-7 tally.
Adamson University remained atop the standings with a 7-1 record, while Nazareth School of National University had a 7-2 record, just one game ahead of UST.
The Tiger Cubs’ defense held Junior Archer and Gilas boys standout Kieffer Alas to 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting. In their first-round matchup, Alas scored 27 points.
“Nakalocate kami sa kaniya right from the start hanggang matapos. Kapag rebound ng La Salle, locate na agad kay Kieffer tapos ‘pag na-slow-down namin siya, saka kami pumupunta sa zone namin,” Iñigo said.
Dungo steered the Tiger Cubs to their second straight win with 26 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and six steals, while Lim and Ludovice chipped in 14 points apiece.
Espina led La Salle with 17 points, four rebounds, two steals and a block.
The Tiger Cubs will look to tally their third straight win for a share of second place as they next face the NSNU Bullpups at the same venue on Sunday, Jan. 14, at 1 p.m.
