“CELLAR-dwellers,” “unpredictable,” “toothless Tigers.”
These were the words used to describe the UST Growling Tigers at the start of Season 69 of the UAAP basketball wars.
But last Oct. 2, the Tigers were christened different names: brave-hearts, never-say-die heroes, and finally, champions.
In a tough season in which they were initially dismissed as perennial non-contenders, the Tigers became champions at the expense of the league’s top-billed squad.
The Tigers’ Season 69 campaign, dubbed a “Cinderella Story” by sports pundits, ended happily ever after in a thrilling 76-74 victory over the highly- favored Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles in Game 3 of their best-of-three finals series before some 20,000 spectators at the Araneta Coliseum and tens and thousands more across the land and even abroad through television. The victory finally quenched UST’s 10-year title drought.
Rookie coach Pido Jarencio praised his underrated yet talented wards after the game.
“The moment I saw this lineup, I did not promise anything but I knew right then that they were destined to be champions,” Jarencio told the Varsitarian. “We did not mind being underdogs and instead kept our focus and our burning desire to win.”
True enough, the Tigers showed impressive poise and determination down the stretch when they trailed by as much as five points at 59-64, 1:17 minutes left in the game. Tiger forward Anthony Espiritu scored a triple and sophomore Mark Canlas sank an offensive putback in the ensuing play to tie the game with 37 seconds left.
The Eagles had the chance to seal the deal in the next possession, but star forward JC Intal, who was miserable from the field the entire game on four out of 18 shooting, missed a runner against the pesky defense of Dylan Ababou. Tiger court-general Japs Cuan grabbed the rebound and dribbled the ball to centercourt that formally pushed the game into overtime.
“Nung lumamang ng lima scoring eight of his team-high 18 points in the waning moments to keep the Tigers in the hunt. UST played in overtime minus reliables Allan Evangelista and Jervy Cruz, who had already sat out due to fouls early in the fourth.
“I instructed Jojo (Duncil) to take charge in the overtime, and I’m glad he was able to do what was expected of him,” Jarencio said.
Duncil’s pump-up fake jumper over Chris Tiu and Intal’s driving lay-up on the other end evened the count at 74, but Ababou split his charities off a foul from Zion Laterre in the next play to put the Tigers upfront, 75-74.
Intal then missed another runner as Cortez sealed the win with another charity split with 3.7 seconds left. Ateneo’s Jai Reyes made a desperate attempt at mid-court before two Tiger defenders but to no avail. The buzzer finally sounded and the UST crowd pumped in jubilation and descended into the court to claim it as “Tigerland.”
Jarencio, who delivered the championship for UST in his first try as coach, attributed the Tigers’ miraculous comeback to God, his assistants, the players, the alumni, and the whole Thomasian community who never got tired of supporting the team.
“This win is all for them because without them, this would not be possible,” the teary-eyed Jarencio said.
Duncil bagged the Finals MVP honors. Ababou added 13 markers and eight rebounds. Cuan, despite missing a lot of his charities, still managed to chip in 10 markers.
Fall once, stand up twice
Coming from a shattering one-second, one-point loss in Game 1, the Tigers more than redeemed themselves in an 87-71 massacre of the Eagles in Game 2 of the finals series last Sept. 30.
UST’s sixth man Ababou, who was hardly a factor in Game 1, scored a blistering 22 points and hauled nine rebounds to lift the wounded Tigers and even the series at one-game apiece.
The Tigers were not topsy-turvy this time, staging an early 9-0 run in the second canto, capped by Ababou’s follow-ups. UST never looked back by shooting 40 per cent in the perimeter (16/40), compared to Ateneo’s 12 per cent (4/32).
Duncil also staged a remarkable comeback with 20 points, while Cruz, Espiritu, and Evangelista scored 10 markers each.
In Game 1, Evangelista’s supposed to be game-winning shot was foiled with a second-long catch-and-shoot play from the Eagles’ Doug Kramer in a 73-72 stinging defeat against Ateneo last Sept. 24 at the Big Dome.
After trading baskets in the pay-off period, Evangelista sank a long jumper with one second left on the clock. It looked that the inaugural victory was for the Tigers, but Escalona made the perfect pass to Kramer inside with Tiu and Intal as the decoy.
Jarencio charged the defensive lapse to his players’ experience but vowed to avenge the loss. Jarencio’s words then quickly came true, as the Tigers convincingly swept the Eagles in the last two games en route to winning the title amid a chorus of non-believers. It was indeed a fairy-tale run for UST, and their supporters, even nay-sayers now know that dreams do come true.
Road to the Promised Land
More than flaunting their basketball prowess at crunch time, the Tigers threw their willpower into the semifinal fray to hack out a pulsating 82-81 win over the second-seeded University of the East (UE) Red Warriors last Sept. 21.
The Tigers, who barged into the championship round for the first time in seven years, made mincemeat of the Warriors twice-to-beat advantage after jumping the gun early in the series with a 79-75 victory in Game 1.
Down by four at 73-77 in the last two minutes, the prolific Duncil, Evangelista and Jun Cortez helped the Tigers claw back from the pits of despair as they bore the pressure in a game that was the toughest to crack for the España-based cagers this season.
After nailing a go-ahead triple that halted a 7-0 UE run, Cortez missed another three-point attempt only to be rebounded by Duncil, who came out of nowhere and pumped in the marginal follow-up basket plus a bonus free throw off Mark Borboran’s fifth foul to put the Tigers on top, 82-79 with 53.8 seconds.
UE made one last push on Rob Labagala’s barreling drive to make it 81-82, but Evangelista, alongside Cruz, who registered another double-double effort of 27 points and 18 rebounds, typified the Tigers’ defensive prowess as they thwarted a possible game-winner from Jorel Cañizares as time expired.
In Game 1 last Sept. 17, Mark Canlas exploded with 16 points, scoring four in each quarter, while Cortez made all the big plays in crunch time as the Tigers mangled the Warriors, 79-75 to kickstart their Final Four rampage.
After sustaining a late 8-2 run by the Warriors and with only a two point lead, 73-71, in the final minute, Cortez gave UST some breathing room after scoring on a three-point play capped by a strong drive to the basket off Labagala, giving the Tigers a five-point lead at 76-71.
Although Labagala would make up for his shortcoming in the ensuing play with a lay-up in the last 20 seconds of the contest, UE had no choice but to foul Cortez, sending the Tiger’s second-best free-throw shooter to the charity stripe for the insurance baskets that put UST ahead for good, 78-73.
UST snagged the third spot in the Final Four after nipping the Adamson Falcons, 85-71, in their playoff game last Sept. 14 at the Philsports Arena.
Mythical Five member Cruz showed the way for the Tigers with 20 points and 14 rebounds, while Evangelista added 14.
UST led by one at halftime, 41-40, but picked up the tempo in the third frame that triggered a pivotal 14-6 run to break the game wide open for a commanding 67-55 lead heading into the payoff period where the Falcons slowly fumbled under the weight of the Tigers’ torrid assault.
