UAAP: Tigers tame Maroons late, now a half-game out of first place

The University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers found themselves staring at yet another fourth quarter deficit. Once again though, coach Pido Jarencio's charges were able to claw their way to another late win. UST used a 16-0 run late in the fourth quarter to overhaul the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons' lead, on route to a 75-68 victory, Saturday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. The victory gave the España-based squad a 9-3 record, putting them just a half-game behind the league-leading Ateneo Blue Eagles, as teams continue to jockey for Final Four positioning, with the elimination round drawing to a close. UP on the other hand, continued to entrench themselves in the cellar, falling to 1-11. "Masarap lang doon yung will to win, lalo na sa last quarter," said Jarencio after the game.   "Entering this game, 2-2 palang kami sa round na 'to," he added, alluding to the team’s losses to FEU and DLSU. "So sabi ko sa mga bata na these last three games could determine whether we end up at the first or second seed." Facing a five-point hole, 59-54, with 6:13 left after a Jelo Montecastro drive, Jeric Fortuna completed a pair of huge and-one plays–an improbable tip in, and a daredevil drive, to give UST a 60-59 advantage. The Tigers then stole the ensuing inbounds pass, and Jeric Teng completed his own basket and bonus. On the other end of the floor, the Maroons couldn't find an offensive rhythm, costing them several scoring opportunities. Then as if to drive home a point, Aljon Mariano went on a solo 7-0 tear, punctuating it with a triple, to impose a 70-59 lead with three minutes to play. A trey by Mike Silungan broke a three and a half minute dry spell for UP, but the Maroons could not piece together a comeback. Both teams ended up trading baskets at the line, and the Tigers clung on for the victory. Aljon Mariano and Karim Abdul tied with 16 points apiece, corralling six and 21 boards, respectively. Jeric Fortuna also notched a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Jeric Teng added 10 points, in spite of a 3-for-12 outing from the field. UST had won their first round encounter against UP, 68-58, despite being without an injured Jeric Teng, thanks also to a big game from Abdul (20 points, 12 rebounds). A slow UP start gave way to the Maroons taking a 9-7 lead with 5:40 left in the first quarter, thanks to good spacing and seven combined points from Chris Ball and Mark Lopez. However, Teng and Abdul went on a tear halfway through the quarter and scored nine of UST's next 11, versus just a jumper by Mike Silungan. An and-one play by Paolo Romero finally broke UP's silence with 1:42 left to play, but it was Kevin Ferrer who closed out the period with a put-back that made it 20-14 in favor of UST. UP made some headway early in the second quarter, with swingman Mark Lopez scoring or assisting on five of their first seven of the second period. With the Maroons attacking the rim, they to drew within four, 25-21, 3:38 left in the half. Veteran point guard Jelo Montecastro then emerged a hero as the former CSB Blazer dropped eight of UP's next ten, all on breakaway layup or free throws to pull his team ahead, 31-29 with under two minutes remaining. Mike Silungan took over as the half wound down, draining jump shots to notch UP's next seven. The Maroons held the Tigers to only four field goals in the last 7:40 of the first half, and led at the break, 38-35. Coming out of halftime, the Tigers tried to send the ball to Abdul, but the Cameroonian slotman was either stripped or denied on several occasions. Montecastro led UP anew to a 44-37 advantage with under six minutes to play. Abdul bullied his way to the free throw line to no avail, missing four straight from the stripe, but his woes at the line were made up by the rest of the Tigers. They forced UP into the penalty and went 6-for-8 on charities, thanks to Teng, Mariano and Clark Bautista. Meanwhile, the Maroons' baskets were few and far in between. Raul Soyud carried UP with three buckets, including a jumper coming at a minute and a half remaining in the third, 50-43. Bautista then caught a break in transition and fired in a three, only the Tigers' second field goal in the period. UP's Jett Manuel immediately matched him on the other end, and the Maroons kept a 53-46 advantage heading into the final period. The Tigers began converting better at the rim in an 8-4 run in the fourth quarter. Only Montecastro scored from the field from the Maroons, and a driving layup was enough to keep UST at bay, 59-54, before the big Tigers comeback. With all the buzz in the UAAP currently about the technical committee's decision to force FEU to replay their second round encounter against NU, Jarencio actually said that his team wasn't fazed by the ruling, pointing out, "Unlike previous years, hindi namin kailangang may manalo o matalo bago makapasok ng Final Four. Ngayon, diktado namin yung sitwasyon." UST decidedly won the battle of the boards, 54-40. The mark includes 25 on the offensive end, leading to a 17-7 margin on second-chance points. The Tigers, however, were not without fault. They shot just 25-of-41, or 61 percent, from the free throw line. Abdul was the worst offender with a 10 for 18 mark. The Maroons led UST in turnover points, 18-9, and assists, 17-8. Jelo Montecastro led all scorers with 17 points and a perfect 6-for-6 clip from the field. Mike Silungan tallied 14 points, and Raul Soyud played good defense on Karim Abdul, while notching 11 points. - AMD, GMA News The scores: UST 75: Mariano 16, Abdul 16, Fortuna 11, Teng 10, Bautista 9, Ferrer 4, Daquioag 3, Vigil 2, Lo 2, Hainga 0, Afuang 0 UP 68: Montecastro 17, Silungan 14, Soyud 11, Ball 6, Lopez 6, Romero 5, Manuel 5, Padilla 2, Hipolito 2, Mbah 0, Wong 0, Gamboa 0, Asilum 0 Quarter scoring: 20-14, 35-38, 46-53, 75-68