A SHORTHANDED UST Growling Tigers succumbed to a streaking Far Eastern University (FEU), 67-77, in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena last July 21.
The Tigers, who missed the services of star player Jeric Teng and guard Edcor Marata, kept up with FEU through three quarters, 56-62, but lost fuel in the payoff period as the Tamaraws went on a 14-5 run.
UST was limited to one field goal during that stretch until a Karim Abdul layup with 17.7 ticks remaining.
Abdul paced the Tigers with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Kevin Ferrer, who wore a face mask to protect a cheek earlier fractured from a hit by University of the East’s (UE) Ralf Olivarez, chipped in 18 markers.
Terrence Romeo led FEU with 19 markers, nine from beyond the arc, while RR Garcia added 17 points to steer the Tamaraws to an immaculate record after six games.
UST got a taste of the lead, 31-29, in the second canto through Ferrer’s four consecutive points with three minutes left in the period.
But the sweet-shooting Romeo exploded for 10 points in the succeeding quarter to pull away from the Tigers, 62-56.
The Tamaraws shot the lights out of UST in the last frame as Garcia sank a three-pointer with less than seven minutes left for a 10-point FEU lead, 68-58.
Clark Bautista opened the match with seven quick points to give UST a slim 14-13 edge.
Abdul also started strong and took FEU’s Anthony Hargrove to early foul trouble, but faltered at the end.
“Nag-collapse na kami sa dulo. ‘Yung mga breaks of the game sa kanila lahat napunta, nahirapan na kaming pigilan ‘yung momentum nila,’’ coach Pido Jarencio said.
Teng, who was injured in his right shoulder in their match against National University (NU), is under therapy as he underwent a platelet-rich, non-invasive plasma surgery for his injury. Marata was advised by his doctor to rest after an awkward fall that resulted to a pulled hamstring in their game against UE.
“[The doctor] extracted blood from me, and did something to it that made it flesh-colored and injected it back to my shoulder,” Teng explained.
“Hopefully, by the first game of the second round, I’d be able to play again.”
In their game against UE last July 13, the Tigers found a “big three” in Abdul, Aljon Mariano and Ed Daquioag to bounce back from their first loss of the season against NU and hack out an 88-77 victory.
The game’s physicality did not favor either team until UE went into penalty at the 5:47 mark of the payoff period, which gave the Tigers confidence to drive hard to the basket.
Ferrer’s free-throw shooting gave UST its erstwhile biggest lead of the game, 84-74, with 45 seconds left to shut the door on the pesky Red Warriors.
The Tigers looked to pull away earlier in the frame, as Mariano’s three-point play helped erect a nine-point UST lead.
But UE’s Roi Sumang refused to give up, slicing the lead to one after going on a solo 8-0 run.
The Red Warriors, though, committed back-to-back turnovers in the closing minutes that saw the Tigers running in transition and eventually taking their third win in four outings.
Abdul (25 points), Mariano (24 points) and Daquioag (19 points) all stepped up for Teng. Sumang delivered 21 points for UE.
