FilOil: Tigers maul Cardinals despite free throw spree

The University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers coasted over the Mapua Institute of Technology Cardinals on Wednesday, 80-61, despite their NCAA opponents attempting 51 charities, in their FilOil Flying V Pre-season Tournament game at the Arena in San Juan. Coach Pido Jarencio opted to rest his stars playing in the PBA D-League and went with a starting lineup of Karim Abdul, Aljohn Mariano, Kevin Ferrer, Louie Vigil and Robin Tan. Despite the departure from their usual quintet, the move worked as Abdul had his most productive outing in the tournament so far, notching a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Mariano continued his strong play, contributing 15 markers of his own, sophomore Kevin Ferrer added 13 points and eight rebounds, while Clark Bautista scored 11 points while making three of his four attempts from beyond the arc. Jarencio was satisfied with how his bench players responded to extended play, saying, “I think they’re highly motivated, kahit na ginawa kong second unit yung ibang starters ko.” He emphasized that his main goal was to develop his roster and added, “Ang main league naman talaga namin yung UAAP so ‘yon yung pinaghahandaan.” The Tigers’ defense however, allowed Mapua to get away with 51 tries from the charity stripe, though the Cardinals only managed to hit 27 of them for a 53 percent clip. On the other hand, UST nailed 27 of 37 from the line and held the advantage on the glass, 51-32. A Mark Brana basket for the Cardinals towed his team to within a point, 6-5, with under four minutes left in the first period, but UST responded with an 11-2 run, backed by four points from Abdul, for a 15-7 advantage at the quarter mark. Jeric Fortuna opened the second quarter with a trey from the top of the arc to push his side's lead to 11 points, only to have Mapua turn the aggressor on the following possessions, driving to the rim and converting charities in a 10-3 run that cut their deficit to 22-17. Mapua however fell silent in the next five minutes as only Josan Nimes found his range, scoring the team’s four points, including one from beyond the arc, while UST went off on a 13-point barrage. Abdul and Ferrer scored seven points in that run that was capped off by a spinning drive to the rim by Janrey Garrido, giving the Tigers a 35-21 lead at the half. Gab Banal notched a pair of charities at the start of the third quarter, with UST countering with a trey from Fortuna and a shot in the lane from Abdul. Gab's cousin Jonathan drained a fadeaway from the left baseline to trigger a 7-3 spurt for the Cardinals to bring the tally to 43-30, giving his side some hope that they could mount a comeback. Instead, from that point on, it was a march to the free throw line for the Cardinals, but they failed to dent the lead, making only 10 of 20 from the stripe. Kenneth Ighalo scored six of his eight points in the quarter, while Bautista meanwhile scored UST’s last eight points in the period including back to back treys to push the lead to 56-41. The Cardinals didn't threaten again from that point on. Starting point guard Jonathan Banal led the Cardinals with 13 points, while Ighalo and Andretti Stevens added eight points each. But Mapua was unable to get offense from last season's Rookie of the Year Josan Nimes, and transferee Gab Banal, as the duo combined for 13 points on 2-of-16 shooting, and twin 4-of-8 performances from the line. UST notched their second victory to improve to 2-3, while Mapua remained stuck with just a single win versus four losses. - AMD, GMA News The scores: UST 80: Abdul 15, Mariano 15, Ferrer 13, Bautisa11, Fortuna 8, Teng 4, Lo 4, Mamaril 4, Vigil 3, Garrido 2, Pe 1, Afuang 0, Tan 0, Hainga 0, Javier 0, Lao 0 MIT 61: G Banal 13, Ighalo 8, Stevens 8, Nimes 7, J Banal 6, Chien 4, Eriobu 4, Abad 3, Brana 2, Saitanan 2, Parala 2, Estrella 2, Magsigay 0 Quarter scores: 15-7, 35-21, 56-41, 80-61 FilOil 051612 UST vs MIT