SLOWLY but surely, coach Pido Jarencio’s off-season preparations have been working wonders for the rebuilding Tigers, going into the UAAP Season 72 cage wars.
Armed with an effective transition game, the UST Tigers-Dickies squad entered the 2009 Millennium Basketball League (MBL) finals with a 94-84 semifinal dismantling of Wang’s Ballclub-Batch 96 last June 15 at the Rizal Technological University (RTU) gym.
Jarencio said the tune-up allowed the Tigers to gauge their preparedness for the much tougher UAAP season ahead. He said the team still had to work on several areas, especially defense.
“But what’s good is that the boys have a winning attitude,” he said, noting that the Tigers competed against former PBA players. “They gained more experience and they believed more in themselves.
Both UST and Wang isplayed a fluid inside and outside shooting to jumpstart the match with a high-scoring first quarter, 27-20, in favor of UST.
The Tigers opened the second quarter with a 7-0 run, sparked by Dylan Ababou’s fastbreak lay up en route to a 41-27 lead.
But UST immediately entered the penalty situation with 4:10 remaining in the second canto allowing Wang’s Ballclub to close in at 46-41 with six freethrows plus back-to-back lay-ups from Anthony Cuevas and Ronnie Matias.
The Tigers quickly responded as Allein Maliksi knocked in a triple and a lay-up off a Chris Camus assist with 6:51 remaining to fuel an 11-0 UST blast and keep the opponents at bay, 59-42.
Despite capitalizing on UST’s foul woes, Wang’s Ballclub struggled from the stripe as Matias and Ramon Litonjua failed to complete their three- and four-point play opportunities respectively. However, with just eight seconds remaining, Wang’s stalwart Litonjua banked a three-pointer to push his team within 76-60 at the end of the third quarter.
The UST quartet of Aljohn Mariano, Clark Bautista, Carmelo Afuang and Khazim Mirza then nailed a series of pull-up jumpers and lay-ups in the early goings of the fourth quarter to establish UST’s biggest lead in the game, 90-64.
But unforced turnovers haunted Jarencio’s wards as Maliksi and Jerick Teng were whistled for consecutive traveling violations with about four minutes left in the game.
Wang’s unleashed a 7-0 salvo anchored on Matias’ three-point play with 2:36 left to peg the score at 92-73.
The Tigers’ lead was already beyond recall even as Wang’s mounted an 11-0 endgame surge after UST rookie Rusdy Hadi drilled in a lay-up with 1:57 left.
Maliksi led UST with 18 points while Mirza contributed 14 markers.
Wang’s Matias and Luis Palaganas chipped in 18 points apiece in a losing effort.
The Tigers marched into the semifinals with a twice-to-beat edge by breezing past Vescon-Cerel, 87-78, last June 8, for a 4-1 win-loss elimination round record.
In a closely contested match last June 5, the Ababou-reinforced Tigers escaped a pulsating 92-87 contest against Wang’s Ballclub at the Lyceum gym.
UST chalked up its second win by default over Lead Philippine National Police squad last June 3.
The Tigers absorbed their only loss against Lyceum Ocean Fresh, 67-71, last May 20 at the Lyceum gym. UST opened its MBL campaign with a confidence-boosting victory over the RTU Blue Thunders, 87-75 last May 18.
