FilOil: UST Tigers run rampant late, maul Letran Knights

It took nearly four grueling quarters before the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers saw the crack in the Colegio De San Juan De Letran Knights' armor, devastating the fellow Dominican school late, 78-77, Saturday at the FilOil Flying V Arena, as part of the elimination round of the FilOil Flying V Hanes Preseason Cup.

Clark Bautista, who had gone cold from three-point range in the second half, faked a triple and knifed through the lane for the game-clinching basket with 3.9 seconds left, as the Growling Tigers went on a 10 to nothing run in the last two minutes of regulation to subdue the Knights.

UST guard Ed Daquioag made all three free throws after Letran guard McJour Luib fouled him, cutting the Letran lead to six points, which was as high as 17-points early in the first quarter. A fast break lay-up by Bautista cut it to further four, and Letran started blundering their possessions as UST employed a full-court press. Aljon Mariano stole the ball from Letran rookie Ray Nambatac and zipped the pass to Kevin Ferrer, who made the lay-in.

After Almazan missed a shot inside, Mariano grabbed the loose ball and hesitated before passing to Bautista, who was open at the right corner. Bautista faked a triple and went for the basket instead, banking the ball in with 3.9 seconds left on the clock. Letran then faltered in their last possession as Mark Cruz rushed a 15-footer which bounced off the rim.

The win pushes UST out of the .500 mark as they go up 3-2, tying themselves with Letran, which now sports a similar record in the Group A standings.

Mariano totaled 18 points, seven rebounds, and one assist, while Bautista added 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting while Ferrer tallied 15 of his own.
    
Coach Pido Jarencio started by fielding in a starting five of mostly bench players, with Robin Tan, Ed Daquioag, Kim Lo, Paulo Pe, and Robert Hainga, while Coach Caloy Garcia started Mark Cruz, Rey Nambatac, Jamil Gabawan, Fidel Castro, and Raymond Almazan.

Gabawan started strong for Letran, scoring their first seven points as the Knights took an early 7-2 lead. A jumper by Bautista, a split by Daquioag and a triple by Tan inched UST closer at 8-7, but Letran drove an eight-point wedge between both teams, started by an and-one play by Almazan. Tan was then forced to committed an unsportsmanlike foul on Nambatac in an effort to halt a fast break opportunity.

Nambatac split his free throws, Almazan made an elbow jumper, and Castro streaked for an easy lay-in to give the Knights a 16-8 lead. Sharpshooter Clark Bautista caught fire in the latter half of the quarter, making two consecutive triples to water the lead down 17-14. Bautista’s triples and a lay-up by Robert Hainga fueled an 8-1 run for the Tigers. Almazan stopped the bleeding though after he flushed the ball through the rim, 19-16.

After a lay-in by Nambatac, Bautista made his third triple, cutting the lead to two points, 21-19. A lay-up by newcomer Chris Gavia, who was previously linked to Ateneo, leveled the game at 21, but Cruz found a cutting Almazan to give Letran a 23-21 first quarter lead. Bautista scored 11 points in the quarter alone.

The referees slapped Bautista with an unsportsmanlike foul after he roughhoused guard Kevin Buenaflor, who was going in for an easy lay-in. Buenaflor made both free throws and Letran guard McJour Luib made a subsequent triple to put the Knights back up by seven, 28-21.

Aljon Mariano took over for the Tigers, scoring eight points on free throws and lay-ups to flatten the game at 33-33. The game turned physical, with the referees awarding fouls off the ball. UST managed to get the lead after an and-one from Mariano, 39-36. A triple by Nambatac from the right wing evened the game at 39 all, but a hook by Pe and free throws by Kevin Ferrer gave UST a four-point lead heading to the second half.

Caloy Garcia and his staff remained in the court after the halftime buzzer had sounded, complaining that they weren’t receiving the calls they were supposed to while the referees liberally handed their defenders fouls. “Ang nipis-nipis nung bata, tatawagan niyo, tapos kapag sila walang tawag?”, said Coach Garcia, after forward JC Po was slapped with three fouls just guarding Ferrer.

The Growling Tigers made 15 of their 35 shots (43 percent), with 4-of-11 attempts from three-point land. The Tigers out-rebounded their NCAA counterparts 24-19, with eight second-chance points on eight offensive rebounds. Bautista led the team with 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting from three-point range, followed by Mariano with eight.

The Knights made 13-of-33 shots (39 percent), with only three out of five attempts from distance. They failed to convert anything off their six offensive rebounds. Almazan had nine points by the half, followed by Gabawan with eight and Nambatac with seven.


The third quarter started with another unsportsmanlike foul, this time on UST forward Kent Lao for roughhousing one of Letran’s ballhandlers. Letran forward Ford Ruaya’s free throws cut the lead to 43-41, but they were unable to convert anything from the bonus possession. Afterwards though, a streaking Almazan stuffed the ball over the 6’7” Hainga, leveling the game at 43-43.

On a UST possession, the referees slapped Ferrer with an offensive foul, his fourth of the game. However, Ferrer stayed in and hit a jumper to put UST back up, only for a triple from Cruz over Tan to swing the lead back to Letran, 46-45. Another offensive foul was called, this time on Mariano, and Cruz hit another triple. After a split by Nambatac, xoach Pido Jarencio called for time with his team down 51-45.

The Tigers responded well to the timeout, scoring two straight baskets from Mariano and Bausita to cut the lead to 52-49. The Knights went on another run, with Almazan making another slam in traffic. On an ensuing Letran possession, Almazan got the hoop and the harm, and a lay-up by Rey Publico capped a 7-0 run for the Knights, 61-49. A triple by Ferrer snapped the scoring drought for UST, as the third quarter ended at 61-52.

Letran kept jousting early in the fourth, going on an 8-0 run with contributions from Publico, Buenaflor, Gabawan and Cruz, as Letran went up by 69-52. UST managed to fend off Letran’s blows by going on their own 9-0 run, with seven points from Mariano and two from Ferrer to slash the lead to 69-61.

A counted foul from Cruz after Daquioag unintentionally hit him on a jumper boosted Letran’s lead to 72-61. Mariano went on a foray to the hoop but was unsuccessful, as Almazan was there to  block him. After two free throws and a triple by Ferrer, the lead was further diminished to six points, 72-66.

Luib made a triple from the left corner to put Letran back up 77-68, but UST got those three points back after he fouled Daquioag on a three-point attempt, all of which he made. Luib’s three points were Letran’s last three points, as the Tigers went on a 10-0 run to finish strong at 78-77.

The Knights were out-rebounded 42-38. They made 26 out of 63 shots (41 percent) while going 6-of-12 from distance (50 percent). They missed eight attempts out of 27 from the free throw line.

Almazan continued his improved play, scoring 17 points while grabbing six rebounds and blocking two shots. Cruz followed suit with 13 points, six rebounds, and four assists and Gabawan tallied 16 of his own, along with 10 rebounds.

UST has been without Teng for two straight games now, missing action because of a sprain. The 6’0” sniper has been averaging 14.7 points per game on 27.9 percent shooting thus far for the Espana-based squad. Also missing in action is guard Janrey Garrido.

The Knights were without sweet-shooting forward Jonathan Belorio, who is sitting out with a fractured left hand.

Letran is scheduled to match up against University of the East on Wednesday, May 15 at 4pm, while UST is also set to go against UE next Saturday, May 18 at 2pm. - AMD, GMA News


The scores:

UST – Mariano 18, Bautista 17, Ferrer 15, Daquioag 9, Lo 6, Pe 4, Hainga 4, Tan 3, Gavia 2, Sheriff 0, Marata 0, Lao 0, Faundo 0

CSJL –Almazan 17, Cruz 13, Gabawan 13, Nambatac 8, Buenaflor 7, Kyub 6, Publico 4, Po 3, Castro 2, Ruaya 2, Dysam 2

Quarter scoring: 21-23, 43-39, 52-61, 78-77