UST's running game to test Ateneo's half-court set in UAAP Sunday

MANILA, Philippines – University of Santo Tomas’ run-and-gun game will try to test Ateneo’s methodical and deliberate plays when action continues in the 72nd UAAP men's basketball tournament Sunday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City. The contrasting styles will add excitement in the 4:00 p.m. match between the Growling Tigers and the Blue Eagles, whose coaches have pointed to their kind of games as the reason why they have won their first two matches and end up tied for the early lead this season. Ateneo posted what King Eagle Rabeh Al-Hussaini called as a statement win in their opening match against favored and host Far Eastern University, 63-59, last July 12 at the Big Dome. The Eagles then added University of the East to their early victims, 72-57, last July 16 for their second win. UST, meanwhile, escaped with a 76-75 win over Adamson on opening day then coasted to a lopsided 104-89 triumph against National University last Thursday. Even Ateneo coach Norman Black is looking forward to meeting the Pido Jarencio-mentored Santo Tomas five, which the Eagles coach described as dangerous despite their lack in ceiling. “UST is not as tall as we are," noted Black. “But they run and shoot all over the place. It will be exciting to match up with them." “UST do not employ as much deliberate plays like us. So it will be exciting how we fare against them. We will see what they will show up with and we will try to adjust," Black added. With the hulking Al-Hussaini manning the shaded area for the Eagles expect the smaller Growling Tigers to try winning the match from the perimeter. The Growling Tigers have shown that they are an outside-shooting squad when they dominated NU. In the NU-UST match, the Tigers posted a decent 49.4 percent shooting clip behind a 40-of-81 field goal shooting. The España-based squad also shot 9-of-24 from beyond the arc. Jeric Fortuna scored 12 of his 14 points against the Bulldogs from rainbow country while Dylan Ababou, Khasim Mirza and Jeric Teng all contributed points from the three-point area. “Malaking laban ang Ateneo," admitted Jarencio. “Pero kami, lalaban." Jarencio said at the start of the season that he is back to square one when it comes to molding the team into a cohesive fighting unit because of nine rookies in his team. Jarencio, though, was not surprised that his Growling Tigers were able to post two-straight wins. “Ang sabi ko sa inyo, makakakasilat din kami. At nakita ninyo naman nakasilat nga. Pero simula pa lang ito ng laban mahaba pa ang season." “Ang mahalaga sa amin ay lumaban sa lahat ng matches, including against Ateneo. At kung maitutuloy namin ang pagkakaisa sa team, hindi ako magtataka na patuloy kaming manalo," added Jarencio. Jarencio for sure will again be banking on Dylan Ababou’s leadership after the UST team captain scored a career-high 30 points against NU. “Ako ngayon ang leader ng team at gusto ko talagang pangatawanan ito," said Ababou. “Bihira kasi ang pagkakataong mabigyan ka ng leadership position lalo na sa isang team tulad ng Tigers." Ababou actually had a double-double in that match as he also pulled down 10 rebounds. He was amply supported by Mirza, a fellow veteran in the team which does not have a legitimate center after Jervy Cruz graduated last season, who also posted a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds. – Perry Legaspi, GMANews.TV