THE NEW-LOOK Tigers-Dickies survived a pesky Lyceum of the Philippines-Showa-Ocean Fresh squad with a thrilling 88-85 win at the Lyceum Gym last April 17.
The Tigers anything but missed the services of Season 72 MVP Dylan Ababou and mainstays Khasim Mirza and Allein Maliksi, banking on the furious offense of Jeric Teng and Jeric Fortuna, who each scored 20 points.
Clark Bautista and Carmelo Afuang added 19 and 13 markers, respectively, as the Tigers exacted revenge on Lyceum, which crushed them in last year’s Millennium Basketball League finals.
“They have become mature players,” said assistant coach Cenen Dueñas, who temporarily called the shot for Pido Jarencio.
With victory hanging by a thread, Lyceum’s Eder Saldua nailed a crucial free throw in the dying seconds of the fourth canto to close the gap to two points, 87-85. But Fortuna’s gift shot saved the day for UST with four seconds left in the game. Lyceum’s steady three-pointer Victor Medina fired a buzzer-beater triple but to no avail.
The Tigers took an early lead courtesy of Fortuna, who poured in 10 points including two fast breaks, 5:02 minutes left in the first quarter, 25-13.
UST big man Chris Camus went down with a sprained foot just five minutes into the game. Afuang took over in the second period, keeping the opponents at bay with a 6-0 run that pushed UST’s lead, 42-27.
Former Adamson cager Patrick Cabahug answered Afuang’s scoring streak with a three-pointer to close the period, 42-30, still in favor of UST.
Teng, last season’s Rookie of the Year, proved himself worthy of the title, when he took over the third quarter with steady shooting from beyond the arc. He also converted a last-second shot with a bonus and-one to cap the third quarter, 73-55.
Lyceum threatened a comeback in the final quarter courtesy of Medina, who ended up with 21 points. He nailed a confidence-boosting trey in the last two minutes of the game to trim UST’s lead down to one, 83-82. UST rookie Vincent Tinte saved the day by banking a hook shot to push the lead back to three, 85-82.
“We had a hard time in the fourth quarter because some players are injured while the big men were fouled out,” Dueñas said. “We had a hard time, but at least we fought so in the end, the outcome was good.”
The Tigers suffered an 83-80 defeat from Foscon Ship Management in their game opener last April 13.
