UST takes down NUNS, forces Final Four in UAAP Juniors Basketball

The University of Santo Tomas took down erstwhile undefeated National University Nazareth School, 76-56, Thursday in the UAAP Juniors Basketball tournament at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

Senegalese forward Racine Kane led the Tiger Cubs with 18 points and 16 rebounds, along with three blocks, two steals, and an assist, while Koji Buenaflor added 14 points, 12 rebounds, two steals, and an assist as UST ended the elimination round at second place with 12 wins and two losses.

Collins Akowe was limited to eight points but grabbed 18 rebounds and had three blocks. Mac Alfanta led the Bullpups with 11 points, while Migs Palanca was a rebound shy of a double-double after tallying 10 markers. 

“They deserved to win this game. 'Yon naman ang goal namin right from the start, na makakuha ng top two spot and ng twice-to-beat advantage. Nakuha na namin isang goal namin, pero our job is not done. Marami pa room for improvement and we’ll play harder dahil Final Four na ito, dadagdagan pa namin ng effort,” said Tiger Cubs head coach Manu Inigo.

The win stopped NUNS' possible sweep of the tournament and a Final Four was forced for the semifinals.

NUNS will face no. 4 Adamson University, while UST will take on Far Eastern University-Diliman. NUNS and UST both have twice-to-beat bonuses.

In the other games, Ateneo de Manila University (3-11) kept the University of the Philippines Integrated School (0-14) winless after a 70-69 escape win, while the University of the East (6-8) defeated the Final Four-bound Adamson University (7-7), 69-60. De La Salle Santiago Zobel (6-8), meanwhile, capped off its campaign with a 71-61 victory against semis-bound FEU-D.

In the girls' division, UST completed a sweep of the elimination round after a 91-66 victory against NUNS.

UST and NUNS will face off in best-of-three finals.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News