THE UST Growling Tigers opened UAAP Season 68 the same way they closed the previous one: with a loss.
The Tigers fell to the more experienced University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons, 66-69, collapsing in the closing minutes of their debut game last July 9 at the Araneta Coliseum.
“We lost against a team that played in the PBL. They are all veterans in their own right,” head coach Reonel Parado said. My players played their hearts out and I am happy with that.”
Ahead by seven points, 64-57, coming into the two-minute mark of the final quarter, the young Tigers lost composure, allowing a late 8-0 UP surge led by slotman Abraham Santos and forward Nestor David.
With the Maroons ahead, 65-64, swingman Danny Pribhdas sank a mid-range jumper with 28 seconds left to put UST up front again.
Santos, who scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the fourth period, answered from rainbow territory to give UP the upperhand, 68-66, with 12 seconds remaining.
UST had a final shot at a win, but forward Anthony Espiritu’s three-pointer missed. UP forward’s Michael Vainio’s split at the charity stripe closed the scoring at 66-69.
“Akala namin nasa amin na ang panalo nung last two minutes, yun nga lang kulang talaga kami sa experience,” the sophomore coach said.
Almost but not quite
The Tigers used a balanced attack with three players scoring in double figures. Forward Warren De Guzman scored a team-high 16 points, but none in the final quarter where he suffered hamstring injury.
Prihbdas chipped in 12 points, while Jojo Duncil added 10 markers.
UST did not seem to miss the services of three-point specialist Jemal Vizcarra as its bench players proved to be able scoring options, outscoring their UP counterparts 26-20. Sophomore center Chester Taylor was easily the team’s surprise package off the bench scoring eight points and hauling down seven rebounds.
“Duncil and Taylor were part of the lineup last season but barely saw action.” Parado said. “Maganda ang ipinakita nila ngayon.”
The Espana-based squad’s lack of ceiling and size showed as UP posted a 27-20 advantage on the offensive boards, resulting to a 21-10 lead in second chance points.
And what the Tiger lacked in size, they were not able to compensate in terms of speed as UST only posted a slim 10-8 fastbreak points advantage.
“We need to show more intensity in our upcoming games and work more on our defense,” Parado said.
