MANILA, Philippines – In a crucial matchup between the third- and fourth-seeded UAAP teams, the UST Growling Tigers took care of business against the UE Red Warriors with a thrilling 76-67 win in the Season 87 men’s basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum on Saturday, November 9.
With just two Final Four tickets up for grabs, the fourth-ranked Growling Tigers tightened their grip of a playoff spot with a 6-7 record and denied the No. 3 Red Warriors (6-6) an outright entry to the semifinals.
UST’s win also eliminated the Ateneo Blue Eagles (3-9) from Final Four contention, trimming down the tight race for the last two semifinal spots to just five teams.
Aside from UST and UE, the FEU Tamaraws (5-8), Adamson Soaring Falcons (4-7), and the NU Bulldogs (4-8) also remain in the running to join the league-leading La Salle Green Archers and the second-ranked UP Fighting Maroons in the postseason.
After seeing his team-high 19-point outing go to waste in UST’s previous loss to NU just three days ago, high-scoring forward Nic Cabañero picked up where he left off and erupted for his season-best 27 points on 8-of-16 shooting.
With UST already ahead by double-digits at the end of the opening period, 22-11, Cabañero put on a show in the second quarter and dropped 15 of his 27 points to help the Growling Tigers extend their lead to a whopping 27 markers, 41-14, with 3:24 to go in the first half.
A massive late-game fightback by the Red Warriors pulled them within just 5 points, 64-69, off a triple by Jack Cruz-Dumont, before Cabañero once again took over and restored order for the Growling Tigers with a clutch and-one play to put them up by 8, 72-64, with only 2:26 remaining.
Gelo Crisostomo and Christian Manaytay also breached double-digit scoring for UST with 14 and 10 points, respectively, in the highly physical encounter that saw UE’s foreign student-athlete Precious Momowei get ejected due to two unsportsmanlike fouls.
Momowei got slapped with his first unsportsmanlike foul after a collision with UST’s Mo Tounkara at the 5:18 mark of the second quarter that left the Growling Tigers’ foreign student-athlete with a bloodied nose.
Momowei then got called for his second unsportsmanlike foul after an inadvertent elbow to Crisostomo on his way down from a layup that also left the UST forward with a busted right eye at the 5:13 mark of the final frame.
UST survived a sensational performance by Cruz-Dumont, who led the charge for UE with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
Wello Lingolingo and Devin Fikes helped Cruz-Dumont carry the Red Warriors’ scoring load in their third straight defeat with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The Scores
UST 76 – Cabañero 27, Crisostomo 14, Manaytay 10, Padrigao 7, Tounkara 7, Danting 5, Paranada 3, Pangilinan 2, Llemit 1, Acido 0, Estacio 0.
UE 67 – J. Cruz-Dumont 19, Lingolingo 13, Fikes 12, Maga 9, Momowei 6, Wilson 3, Spandonis 3, Malaga 2, Galang 0, Abate 0, H. Cruz-Dumont 0, Mulingtapang 0.
Quarters: 22-11, 48-28, 60-45, 76-67.
– Rappler.com