THE UST Tiger Cubs badly missed the Final Four bus after taking a 69-82 beating at the hands of the twice-to-beat Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eaglets in the third Filipino-Chinese Basketball League (FCBL) Freego Cup at the Buddhacare Academy Gym last May 20.
Coach Jerome Ascue said that his boys got a bit overconfident in facing the undermanned Ateneo team with the absence of experienced stalwarts Von Pessumal and Keiffer Ravena.
Charles Dumrique led the charge for the Eaglets with 20 points, followed by Jay Javelosa with 17-point markers.
The Cubs trailed early on within the first minutes of the opening canto as the Eaglets erected an 18-point deficit, 7-25. Ateneo kept the pressure in the second quarter, taking advantage of UST’s turnovers to finish the half with a 40-25 lead.
The Cubs showed signs of life in the third, but could only get within 10 points courtesy of wingmen EJ Corre and Jaypee Sarcia’s scoring explosion. But the Eaglets rallied back for a 57-42 lead.
The fourth quarter was all Eaglets, who registered their biggest lead in the game at 23 with 4:25 remaining.
“Despite the loss today, they still remain to be one formidable team to be feared in the UAAP,” coach Ascue said. “But the team became too inconsistent. We never made a complete attendance during practice trainings, which affected the team’s overall performance during the games.”
Coach Ascue also said that some of the Cubs did not show up in important games either because they are sick or are on vacation. The Cubs are going through a rebuilding process following the departure of 11 players due to graduation. Lester G. Babiera and Angelo Nonato Cabrera
