Tag: 2007

IN A BATTLE of women’s basketball champions, the UST Tigresses prevailed over reigning College and Universitites Sports Association champions, Philippine College of Criminology (PCCr) Lady Enforcers, 78-58, in the finals of the 2007 Nike Summer League last June 8 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

With the victory, the Tigresses erased the stigma of their lone defeat in the tournament against the same Lady Enforcers squad, who dealt them a 47-57 beating in the eliminations last May 9.

“It was our laxity on defense that caused our defeat against PCCr in the eliminations,” coach Peque Tan told the Varsitarian. “We have learned from that mistake by tightening our defense and concentrating more on their two key players (Stineli Casakit and Katrina Garcia).”

LIVING up to the standards set by the Tigers in Season 69 is not easy. But four young men are ready to take on the challenge.

Tapped to provide the basketball team with additional offensive firepower and defensive muscle, Rum Perry Scott, Francis Soriano, Hector Badua and Kashim Mirza maybe greenhorns but their basketball aptitude shows a lot of promise which the UAAP hoopdom looms to behold.

Guided by the most prying eyes in the Tiger’s lair, coach Pido Jarencio’s new boys are determined to slug it out on the hardcourt against the league’s grizzled veterans come Season 70 — hopefully to earn their stripes in the UAAP defending champion’s battle-tested rotation — and help UST fashion a glorious repeat of its Season 69 quest.

Rum Perry Scott
Jersey no. 21
5’9”
Point Guard

A WEEK before the UAAP cagewars unfurl, UST has withdrawn mainman Jojo Duncil from its Season 70 roster in what could be a major setback to the Tigers’ title-retention bid following speculations that the 2006 Finals MVP has allegedly passed a “questionable” birth certificate.

“UST believes that Jojo (Duncil) is only 24 years old and is eligible to play this season,” UST Institute of Physical Education and Athletics director Fr. Ermito de Sagon told the Varsitarian. “But we chose to pull him out of the line-up to avoid questions on the credibility of UST’s basketball games and the other UAAP sports that we are in,” he said.

It has been a month since newspaper and online journal reports raised the issue of Duncil’s eligibility after an NSO-certified birth certificate showed that he was born on Jan. 13, 1982, in contrast to the Jan. 13 1983 birth date he stated in his credentials when he suited up for the Tigers in 2002.

AGAIN, the numbers have spoken.

Following an arduous first-semester campaign, UST once more is perched comfortably atop the UAAP general championship ladder, capturing four titles and three runner-up finishes along the way for a commanding 154 point-aggregate.

Stalking the “ten-peat” UAAP overall titlists is the University of the Philippines (UP) with 126 points for second place while Far Eastern University (FEU) was a distant third with 117 markers.

Epitomizing UST’s supremacy were the men’s table tennis team and the women’s chess teams who struck gold in their respective events. Also finishing first were the women’s taekwondo and swimming squads.

UST juggernaut

DOMINATION.

Leaving behind the stigma of their Season 69 finals defeat, the UST Lady Booters mauled all opposition to stay unscathed in their 7th Metro Manila Girls Football Association campaign.

The Season 69 bridesmaids carved out an impressive 6.6 percent average winning margin to get to a 4-0-1 win-loss-draw record in the tournament.

Parading their UAAP game-face in imposing fashion, the Lady Booters blanked the Ateneo de Manila, 2-0, last October 14 at the De La Salle-Zobel football field.

Hounded by the Ateneo’s tight first half marking, Lady Booter Mary Ignacio reaped payback in the opening minute of the second half, uncorking a powerful strike to put the Lady Booters on top, 1-0.

A moment later in the 47th minute, Ignacio slotted home a second goal off an assist by Patricia Perlas.

THE SWASHBUCKLING UST Male Fencers struck a pose in time for the coming UAAP wars, carving a bridesmaid finish in the Interclub Fencing Competition last September 28 at the SM Megamall in Ortigas.

“This is only part of our training in preparation for the coming UAAP season,” coach Bienvenido Orlanes told the Varsitarian.

Despite absorbing a 50-60 loss to Season 69 champion University of the East (UE) Red Skirts, the Male Fencers carried out a show as they struck their way to an early nine-point binge, 15-6.

However, UE fencer Bonifacio Jacintos slashed UST’s lead to only 19-20, altering the complexion of the match in favor of the Red Skirts. From a 43-45 margin halfway into the bout, UE banked on the prolific Jacintos exploits in the 10th round en route to a decisive 44-50 upperhand for the gold.

WHISKED away from active play after a five-month suspension for alleged game-fixing, International Master Darwin Laylo’s blooming chess career looked headed to the doldrums.

But the 2004 National Open champion hardly sank in career dormancy, underscoring his return with an impressive finish at the Sixth Asian Individual Chess Championship last September 27 to become the Philippines’ seventh Grandmaster (GM).

“It was good karma,” Laylo said in an interview with the Varsitarian. “Winning the championship was a chance to prove myself against my accusers and represent the country at the same time.”

AFTER 11 years, a Tiger is once again king of the UAAP basketball hill.

Following a remarkable year in which he imposed total domination in the shaded lane offensively and defensively, UST stalwart Jervy Cruz was named Most Valuable Player of Season 70 last October 7 at the Araneta Coliseum.

The last Tiger to win the MVP trophy was Christopher Cantonjos of the fabled “four-peat” UST team, who led the black-gold-and-white to a 57-54 victory against La Salle in what became the last of four straight titles in 1996.

Cruz was also named PS Bank “Maasahan Player of the Year” and a member of the Mythical Five.

The MVP plum, however, was bittersweet for the 21-year-old Nueva Ecija native following the Tigers’ premature exit in the step-ladder semifinal series of the tournament.

“I am very happy that I was named the MVP,” Cruz told the Varsitarian. “Unfortunately, we were not able to bring another title to UST.”

IT WAS the last two minutes of the ballgame.

Cold sweat dripped from UST Tiger Dylan Ababou’s yellow jersey. He looked at the clock and realized that they could be two minutes away from victory or from being dethroned. Then he made a three-pointer that trimmed the lead down to only five points, 65-60. That seemed to have been the lift they badly needed.

But no matter how hard Dylan and his teammates tried to close in and keep their back-to-back championship hopes alive, it wasn’t enough. The buzzer had already sounded.

Girding for ‘vengeance’

CALL HIM the stabilizing factor.

It is no surprise that Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P., a two-term UST rector, is now back at the helm of the Pontifical University so as to navigate the difficult transition following the recent leadership crisis that saw the resignation of the University’s top three officials.

Tasked by the Dominican Master Genereal Fr. Carlos Alfonso-Aspiroz, O.P. to spearhead the review of the redevelopment and expansion of the UST Hospital, De la Rosa was named acting rector after Fathers Edmund Nantes, O.P., Ernesto Arceo, O.P., and Juan Ponce, O.P., resigned as prior provincial, rector and vice-rector, respectively, last September 8.

It appears De la Rosa will get a permanent rectorship after all as he received the most number of votes from fellow Dominicans and UST officials during a three-level election this month.