EMPLOYING tenacious defense throughout, the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers exacted revenge on the San Sebastian Stags, 89-70, to salvage third place in the final playing day of the 3rd Spring Oil Asian Universities Basketball Championship last June 20 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Utilizing a suffocating full-court trap which led to easy baskets, the Tigers broke the game open in the final four minutes of the second quarter with a 23-3 salvo led by UST’s Cyrus Baguio and Niño Gelig en route to a 48-27 halftime lead. The dunking duo scored a combined 15 points during that scoring binge.
The reigning National Collegiate Athletic Association and Ambrosio Padilla Cup champion Stags threatened to come back late in the third quarter as they closed the gap to 15, 65-50.
Order was restored, however, as the Tigers ended the quarter with a 6-0 run. Posting its biggest lead of the game, 79-54, at the start of the final quarter, UST never looked back from then on.
Baguio and Gelig finished with 14 and 12 points, while big man Alwyn Espiritu dominated the paint, also with 12.
UST finished the tournament with a 2-3, win-loss record in the tournament that saw St. Francis of Assisi winning the title, defeating Yonsei University from Korea in the championship match.
Meanwhile, the Tigers sorely missed the services of Baguio, Gelig, Espiritu and Christian Luanzon as UST dropped an 89-81 decision against the National University of Taipei (NUT) last June 19 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
NUT led, 69-61, with 6:55 in the third quarter. UST, however, was able to take the lead, 73-71, after a reverse lay-up by center Mark Nanninga.
Six straight points from NUT at the start of the fourth quarter took UST by surprise as the Taipei team went on a fastbreak scoring run.
In absence of a scoring threat, NUT took advantage of the hapless Tigers and held on for the win.
Earlier, the UST Growling Tigers encountered little resistance from the RP-Burlington team, 85-70, to notch their first win in the AUBC last June 18 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Bannered by 10-point outputs from Derrick Hubalde, Warren De Guzman and rookie Allan Evangelista, the UST cagers never relinquished their early advantage in the match.
Led by a combined 13-point output from De Guzman and second-year player Jarod Vizcarra, the España-based cagers raced to a 23-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
UST head coach Januario “Aric” Del Rosario’s strategy to play the open court proved to be successful as the Tigers led by as much as 20 points, 47-27, in the first half.
Employing a balanced offensive thrust in the second canto, the Tigers effortlessly racked up points from both the perimeter and the post behind Hubalde’s six points and Nanninga’s five.
The RP-Burlington team threatened to reverse the game after outscoring the UST cagers, 23-15, behind Jonathan Fernandez’s six points early in the third quarter.
With RP-Burlington’s game clicking, the Tigers’ weak perimeter defense was exposed.
“Kaunting adjustments pa ang kailangan. Kapag na-double-team na kasi kami, naiiwan agad sa rotation,” Del Rosario said.
The closest RP-Burlington got to was 63-75 with just over three minutes left in the game. A barrage of baskets from Gelig and Allan Evangelista, however, kept their opponents at bay to ensure the victory.
Meanwhile, UST saw too much of Ranidel Ocampo as the big man from St. Francis of Assisi College led his team to an 88-84 win over the Tigers last June 17.
Ocampo was all over the Tigers as he single-handedly carried his team to victory with 33 points.
After being down by four, 30-26, St. Francis of Assisi used stifling defense to erect a 42-35 lead at the end of the half.
UST, however, was able to cut the lead to two, 56-54, with under two minutes left in the third quarter.
But Ocampo was simply unstoppable, scoring on several uncontested dunk shots in the crucial minutes of the game, which resulted from the Tigers’ numerous turnovers.
Back-to-back three pointers and a fastbreak layup by Hubalde could not save the Tigers as they dropped to 0-2.
