Andwele Cabañero shined with a career-best performance as the UST Tiger Cubs punched the last semifinal slot in the UAAP Season 86 junior high school (JHS) basketball tournament with an 87-82 win against the De La Salle Zobel Junior Archers in their playoff for the fourth seed at the Amoranto Sports Complex on Wednesday, April 24.
Andwele, the younger brother of Growling Tigers co-captain Nic, paced UST with 34 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a block.
Cabañero scored 16 of his 34 points in the third quarter on 6-of-7 shooting to turn a slim 54-51 lead to a comfortable 12-point cushion heading to the final salvo, 70-58.
In the payoff period, Junior Archers Ken Atienza and Kyean Gubat trimmed UST’s lead to three with 15.5 seconds left, 83-80.
However, Tiger Cub Kiyam de la Cruz converted two clutch free throws to quash a fourth-quarter DLSZ rally.
The Junior Archers outscored UST in the final frame, 24-17, but the Tiger Cubs banked on their third-quarter performance to eliminate DLSZ.
UST eked out a four-point lead to open the do-or-die game, 23-19.
The Tiger Cubs widened the gap to nine after a 25-20 second quarter, 48-39.
UST shot an efficient 45.8 percent (33-of-72) from the field compared to DLSZ’s 30.7 percent (31-of-101)
Tiger Cub Lorenz Cinco chipped in 16 points and eight rebounds, while De la Cruz tallied 12 points and eight boards.
Atienza’s double-double performance of 29 points and 22 rebounds was not enough to lift the Junior Archers past UST.
The UST Tiger Cubs will face the top-seeded NSNU Bullpups in the knockout semifinals at the same venue on April 28, Sunday, at 1 p.m.
