UAAP: UST rallies to beat UP, 95-85

University of Santo Tomas rallied from an early double-digit deficit to beat University of the Philippines, 95-85, in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum. UST failed to match UP’s hot start and found themselves down by 16 points, 23-7, early in the first quarter. But the Growling Tigers of coach Pido Jarencio slowly clawed their way back into the game with the help of the timely hits of veterans Dylan Ababou and Khasim Mirza, and rookie Jeric Teng. Ababou, Mirza and Teng teamed up to help the Tigers nail their fourth win after seven matches while giving the Fighting Maroons their third straight loss to join Adamson at the cellar with similar 1-6 slates. Ababou paced UST with 23 points to go with his seven rebounds and two assists while Mirza finished with 22 markers, eight rebounds and two assists. Teng, who buried timely baskets in UST’s second half rally, added 22 points and eight rebounds. It was another sorry loss for the Maroons, who scored the biggest upset this season after a 68-58 win over defending champion Ateneo last July 26. UP’s last win over UST was on August 31, 2006 sweeping the Tigers that season. Despite of those two defeats, UST still won the 2006 crown. – GMANews.TV