THE UST Tiger Cubs ended their UAAP Season 86 boys’ basketball campaign in fourth place for the second straight year after absorbing an 80-66 loss to the Adamson Baby Falcons in their semifinal matchup at the Filoil EcoOil Center on Wednesday, Jan. 31.
UST, under new head coach Manu Inigo, finished the elimination round with an 8-6 win-loss record, one game better than its Season 85 performance.
“New team kami e,” Inigo said postgame. “Parang dalawang grupo na pinagsama in ilang months lang na preparation.”
“I’m still proud na umabot kami sa Final Four, tinalo pa rin namin yung malalakas na teams, pero sabi ko nga, we have to be consistent with what we’re doing.”
With Adamson leading by a margin early in the first quarter, 5-4, the Baby Falcons went on an 18-13 run to take a six-point lead at the end of the opening canto, 23-17.
A 12-3 Adamson start, half of which came from free throws, allowed the Baby Falcons to mount a 15-point lead in the second quarter, 35-20.
After a layup by Andrei Dungo early in the second salvo, the Tiger Cubs were held without a field goal for most of the quarter until a buzzer-beating triple by Charles Esteban, 37-27.
Dungo scored seven out of 10 UST points in the second quarter.
Adamson only outscored UST by one point in the third quarter, 24-23.
Still trailing Adamson in double digits early in the payoff period, 65-54, the Baby Falcons gained their biggest lead of 19 after an 11-3 spurt capped by an Earl Medina triple that virtually sealed their win with 3:27 remaining.
Adamson’s lead was too big to overcome as the Tiger Cubs could not keep pace with the Baby Falcons.
“Hindi puwede ‘yung mawawala ‘yung tiwala sa sarili nila ‘eh. Hindi ito yung normal game nila ‘eh, nagkaroon ng pressure sa isip [at] puso nila na normal naman sa ganyang age, lalo na marami kaming batang players,” Inigo said.
Adamson scored 26 points off UST’s 20 turnovers.
The Baby Falcons outrebounded the Tiger Cubs, 43-32. Adamson’s offense was also steered through its 27 total assists against UST’s 16 dimes.
UST only shot 21 of their 56 attempts (37.5 percent), while Adamson sank 31 of their 67 attempts (46.3 percent).
Reyes lifted Adamson to its second straight finals appearance with 23 points on 8 of 8 attempts to go along with 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks, while Justine Garcia (12 points), Mark Esperanza (11 points) and Medina (11 points) combined for 34 markers.
Wacky Ludovice broke out of his scoring slump with 19 points on 63.6-percent shooting from the field, while Dungo chipped in 17 points, six boards and three steals.
Dungo, who finished fourth in the MVP race, remained mum on his commitment to UST in the senior ranks.
“Wala muna kasi after nito, focus muna sa academics,” he said.
Along with Dungo, Lanze Ronquillo, Sam Reyes, Brix Versoza, Mark Ferrer, JB Lim, and Aljen Kaw are all graduating students.
The Tiger Cubs last won a championship in the UAAP in Season 64.
