THE UST Tiger Cubs succumbed to inexperience down the stretch against a more seasoned Colegio de San Juan de Letran Squires to absorb a 76-79 finals heartbreaker and kiss their Nike Summer League (NSL) 2009 title aspirations goodbye last June 10 at the Far Eastern University (FEU) gym.
Despite the absence of key players Cederick Labing-isa and Kevin Ferrer, who were training with the RP Youth Team, the Tiger Cubs stayed close with the veterans of Letran.
Jazreel Jimenez’ outside sniping put UST within three, 75-78, with less than a minute left in the contest.
But a defensive lapse by UST in the next possession sent Letran point guard Mark Cruz to the stripe with 16 seconds remaining. Cruz split his charities to give the Intramuros-based cagers a four-point margin, 75-79.
UST had a chance to cut the deficit in the return play but big man Kyle Neypes muffed one of his two free throws with 11 seconds left before Storm Riva fired a desperation trey at the buzzer.
“We really lacked experience. And that was Letran’s advantage over us. They are a very experienced team,” Tiger Cubs coach Allan Ascue told the Varsitarian. “Their (Tiger Cubs) immaturity was shown during the times we committed turnovers when we needed those big shots.”
The Squires’ 15-0 third-quarter run pumped up a 46-59 Letran bubble which dictated the pace of the entire second half and kept UST no closer than three points.
UST and Letran engaged in a tight first-quarter battle typified by four deadlocks before an Archie Iñigo jumper pushed the Squires ahead, 17-18, going into the second period.
Letran pulled away in the second quarter, 19-26, thanks to an effective full-court pressure that forced the Tiger Cubs’ backcourt into a maze of turnovers.
With their free throws barely hitting the mark, the Tiger Cubs found themselves in deeper trouble, 25-39.
But baskets from Riva and Mythical Five members Neypes and Molline Gonzalez toward the end of the first half brought the Tiger Cubs back to their senses, as UST trailed only by a whisker, 41-42. Letran quickly snuffed UST’s momentum with only a minute gone by in the third as Mythical Five member Glenn Khobuntin nailed a cold-blooded jumper to hand the Squires a 41-44 edge.
UST answered with a three-pointer and a jumper from Jimenez and Neypes, respectively, to regain the lead, 46-44.
But Letran responded with a telling 15-0 blast anchored on the heads-up plays of Khobuntin and Most Valuable Player Jarelan Tampus, before UST unleashed a barrage of shots to close the gap at 59-61.
Gonzalez top scored for UST with 21 while Tampus scored 25 markers to lead Letran.
In their previous games, the Tiger Cubs disposed off NSL third placers Jose Rizal University (JRU), 81-66, in their semi-finals match-up last June 8, and the Rizal Technological University (RTU), 66-63, in their quarter-finals face-off last June 2.
UST capped the eliminations with a 4-1 win-loss record, winning over the University of the Philippines (UP), 71-27, last May 20; JRU, 68-45, last May 7; Don Bosco Technical College, 51-36, last April 30: and San Sebastian College-Recoletos, 57-54, last April 22.
The Tiger Cubs suffered their lone elimination round loss to the Philippine College of Criminology (PCCr), 64-68, last April 28.
