UPBEAT despite taking a momentary slide in its off-season grind, the UST Tigresses stayed on course in the 2007 Nike Summer League even as their male counterparts bowed out of the tournament after claiming their first victory
The erstwhile unbeaten Tigresses absorbed their first loss after surrendering a 47-57 decision to the Philippine College of Criminology (PCCr) Lady Enforcers last May 9. But the loss hardly derailed the España-based cagebelles’ campaign as they remained on top of Group 1 with a 4-1 win-loss record.
“The Tigresses fell short of guarding their opponents, leaving them open in the crucial plays of the game,” coach Peque Tan told the Varsitarian.
Unable to hit their shots at 1:45 mark of the game, the Tigresses saw their 43-38 advantage run out as the Lady Enforcers scored a blistering 10-0 run that hastened the Tigresses downfall at the buzzer.
True enough, the Tigresses left PCCr’s Wendilyn Alvarez wide open for a go-ahead three-pointer that erased UST’s three-point lead halfway in the fourth and tied the match at 47 apiece.
The third period featured three lead changes and three deadlocks before Chryza Sacobos completed a pair of free throws to push UST upfront, 41-38, at the end of the quarter.
Earlier, the Tigresses bounced back from an 11-point first-quarter deficit via a 10-1 attack capped by a basket from Remia Buenacosa to close in at 24-26 come halftime.
Buenacosa led the Tigresses in a losing effort with 11 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Last May 6, the Tigresses flexed their championship mettle against a lowly La Consolacion College (LCC) team for a lopsided 93-31 victory.
The Tigresses’ tight full-court defense throughout the game forced their opponents to commit 25 turnovers on top of a 49-26 rebounding advantage. UST then turned the miscues to 36 turnover and second-chance points combined.
Tigress Paula Jean Bombeo chipped in 12 of her game-high 16 points in a dizzying 31-0 fourth quarter outburst for a larger-than-life 61-point lead to give the LCC team a neat endgame lesson.
The Tigresses also boasted an average winning margin of 34.6 points per game prior to their PCCr setback by devouring the University of the East Lady Warriors (67-41), Emilio Aguinaldo College (80-33), and Polytechnic College of the Philippines (70-39) in their earlier games.
Graceful exit
Living by their never-say-die attitude mantra, the Tigers-B finally entered the win column with an 82-79 squeeker over the College of Saint Benilde (CSB) Blazers last May 7 to exit the tournament with a 1-5 win-loss card.
A jumper from Marlowe Revereza with 1:27 minutes left in the game handed the Tigers-B an 80-77 lead, but a foul from Carlos Fenequito gave the Blazers two charities to close in at 80-79.
Marc Mangalindan played the hero’s role for UST as he hit a crucial follow-up basket off a missed three-pointer by Hector Badua to complete the Tigers-B’s gutsy escape.
UST took a commanding 17-point lead in the second quarter, but its foul woes enabled CSB to seize the upperhand in the third quarter by a 15-3 third-quarter spurt and trail, 57-64.
The Tigers-B, however, clawed back in the pay-off period through Darryl Basa’s back-to-back triples that pushed UST slightly ahead, 70-69.
“To end the campaign on a winning note is a delightful feeling,” assistant coach Beaujing Acot said. “The boys seemed to have learned a lot from Nike Summer League.”
Earlier, the Tigers-B faltered at crunch time to yield a 70-78 decision to the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons last May 5.
Trailing by 11 points early in the fourth period, the Tigers-B sparked a 13-2 blast capped by a three-pointer from Basa to even the count at 59, 6:14 minutes left.
But UP hotshot Migs de Asis yet again doused UST’s comeback bid with a pair of treys to secure a decisive 59-67 edge as the time expired.
Basa led the Tigers-B with a game-high 18 points.
In its previous games, UST suffered two consecutive heartbreaking defeats from FEU, 93-51, last May 3, and the Mapua Institute of Technology, 79-62, last May 1.
