Hungry Tigers devour Bulldogs for win No.2

MANILA, Philippines – University of Santo Tomas devoured a hapless National University side, 104-89, in Thursday’s UAAP men’s basketball game at the Araneta Coliseum. “Gutom ang mga players ko, lahat gutom. Kahit na yong pitong beterano at maging ang siyam na rookies gutom din," said Growling Tigers coach Pido Jarencio, who earned his second win in season 72. “At alam ninyo naman ang tigre kapag gutom lahat kinakain," he added. Leading the fight for the Tigers, who led in the entire match, was an angry Dylan Ababou who used his anger as his motivation in posting a career-high 30 points and 10 rebounds. “Mainit ang ulo ko. Galit ako," was Ababou's reply when asked what motivated him to score that much. “Galit ako sa sarili ko dahil ang sama ng inilaro ko sa unang game naming." Ababou only scored 10 markers in the Tigers’ 76-75 win over the Adamson Falcons last week. Being the Tigers’ captain, Ababou said he was upset with his opening game performance and wanted to redeem himself in the eyes of his rookie teammates. “Ako kasi ang team captain, tapos ang sama nung nilaro ko. Gusto ko kasing madala ang team sa Final Four." “Iba kasi na this time ako ang leader. At bihira ang ganitong opportunity na mag-lead ka ng isang team." Ababou even inspired his teammates, especially Khazim Mirza to post another double-double finish with 19 points and 15 rebounds while Jeric Teng and Allein Maliksi contributed 14 points each. UST started out slow but when its offense went it full gear, the Tigers left behind the Bulldogs and coasted to victory as NU just could not get their own game plan going. The Tigers used a 14-2 run, early in the first quarter, to turn an 8-6 deficit into a 20-8 advantage midway in the opening period and were never threatened after that. They posted their biggest lead at 88-65 at the start of the third quarter. “Mabuti na lang at nag-step up si Dylan. Kasi hindi maganda ang depensa namin. I asked the boys to limit the other team to just 15 points per quarter. Hindi ko alam kung bakit naka-89." The UST defense limited Bulldogs’ center Jewel Ponferrada to just six points while NU rookies Ajeet Singh and Melvin Baloran led the Sampaloc-based quintet with 19 markers apiece. “I know that it will be a high-scoring game," said Jarencio regarding the first 100-point game this season. “Pero ang hindi ko inaasahan ay yong umiskor sila ng malaki. Ang sabi ko sa kanila ay limit the opponents to just 15 points per quarter." “Yong ang dapat naming paghandaan sa susunod naming game, yong defensive lapses namin," Jarencio ended. – Perry Legaspi, GMANews.TV