Filtered By: Sports
Sports

UAAP: Teng-less Tigers triumph against Warriors


Without Charles Mammie, UST's Karim Abdul dominated the paint, in this instance, rejecting UE's Chris Javier. KC Cruz
The UST Growling Tigers squandered their third quarter seven-point lead early in the fourth, but regained their composure late, en route to an 88-77 beatdown of the struggling University of the East Red Warriors, on Saturday, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

[Review the play-by-play of this game here]

The Red Warriors made a valiant attempt to secure win number two, but the Growling Tigers went on a 16-4 scoring rush to subdue them in the final three minutes of the game. UE had a chance to mount a comeback, forging a deadlock at 73-73, with 3:59 left to play, but failed to score in the last four minutes.

The Warriors only managed to put up three points – a triple courtesy of Dan Alberto – in the last 30 seconds of the game, when Coach Boycie Zamar and his boys were down 10 points.

“Speechless ako kasi yung mga bata gusto nila manalo for Jeric [Teng]. Naging positive sila. On my part, ilang araw na akong walang tulog eh, kakaisip nawala yung leader ko sa team,” said UST coach Pido Jarencio. “Mabigat yun, si Jeric, siya talaga ang leader ng team namin.”

Both teams played without key players, as the Tigers were without Jeric Teng, who sat out due to a shoulder muscle injury he sustained in their game against NU last Wednesday, while the Warriors missed Charles Mammie, who was ineligible to play because of a one-game suspension.

UST bucked Teng’s loss, as Karim Abdul and Aljon Mariano combined for 49 points, 25 rebounds, and seven assists, while swingman Ed Daquioag added 19 points.

Injured swingman Jeric Teng points out directions to his UST teammates. KC Cruz
The Tigers improve to 3-1 in the standings, just half a game below the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, who sit atop the standings with a perfect 3-0 record. The Warriors continue on a downward spiral, garnering loss number three in four outings.

UST tried to take advantage of Charles Mammie’s absence early, going up by six points after Abdul repeatedly bullied his way to the post, en route to four easy points at the line. UE resorted to a group effort in defending the post, denying UST any easy scores after Abdul’s last free throw. The Red Warriors however only scored their first points after Jay-Ar Sumido sank a triple at the 5:20 mark, 6-3.

Clark Bautista fired a triple that ignited a 10-0 run. By the time they came to, UE was looking at a 16-5 deficit. Chris Javier and Lord Casajeros responded quickly by pumping in five points off a three-point play and a jumper, respectively, as the Tigers led by 16-10 at the end of the first, holding star point guard Roi Sumang scoreless in the first 10 minutes of action.

Javier gave the second quarter an unusual start, firing a triple from the right corner to cut the lead to three, 16-13. A jumper by Abdul and a lay-in by Ferrer gave UST a seven-point distance at 20-13, but triples by Ralf Olivarez and Gino Jumao-as sandwiched a split by Mariano to cut the lead to two, 21-19.

UE snared the lead as Olivarez again found himself open in the left corner. UST neophyte Bryant So punched back with an up-and-under, earning himself a free throw and the lead for UST at 24-23. After a split by Ivan Hernandez, Jumao-as pick-pocketed UST’s ballhandlers and zipped the pass to Javier who banked a lay-up to give UE a two-point edge at 26-24.

The teams engaged each other in a tit-for-tat towards the end of the second quarter, as UST looked to capitalize on mismatches on the interior, while UE continued to rely on running and shooting. After a split by Abdul, the Cameroonian center rebounded his own miss and dished to an open Ed Daquioag who knocked down a triple to make it a 34-32 game in favor of UST. However, Casajeros swiped the ball off a broken play to even things out at 34-34 just before the halftime buzzer sounded.

Sumang picked up his scoring by the start of the third, drilling in five straight points – his first points of the game – off a lay-in and a triple to make it a 39-34 affair. Mariano and Abdul scored consecutive baskets inside to cut UE’s lead to a point, 39-38, but Sumang, on a foray to the hoop, found Santos open to keep the lead at three, 41-38. Daquioag then swiped a loose ball on their end of the court and flicked it, banking the ball home and sinking the free throw, 41-41.

The two teams traded baskets again, as a jumper by JM Noble countered a lay-in by Mariano, while Sumang and Daquioag both connected on their shots from downtown to tie the game at 48. A stab by Santos broke the deadlock at 50-48, but Ferrer rifled a triple to steal the lead at 51-50. After a turn-around jumper by Olivarez at 52-51, Abdul and Bautista scored four straight points to wedge a three-point lead between them and the Warriors, 55-52.

Aljon Mariano (L) scores over UE's defense. KC Cruz
After a UE miss, officials needed to stop and review the tape, before awarding technical fouls to Adrian Santos, Jumao-as, Kevin Ferrer and Kim Lo for trash-talking. UST, however, continued their run, as Mariano scored another basket inside while Abdul added a point from the stripe. A put-back by Sumang stopped the bleeding, but Abdul retaliated with another hook, 60-54. Casajeros looked to close the quarter with a play inside, but Mariano completed a 12-4 run with three free throws after Casajeros fouled him on the last possession of the third canto, 63-56.

Sumang found a wide-open Javier on their end of the court to cut the UST lead to five points, 63-58. Mariano continued his strong play, carving out three points off the hoop and the harm, and Daquioag added a point to up their lead to nine points, 67-58. By then, Sumang, who had scored only a point by halftime, exploded for eight straight off two triples and a lay-up to bring his total to 19. Two free throws by Daquioag tried to contain the storm, but Casajeros kept the buckets raining for UE by eking out a three-point play to tie the game at 69-all.

The Warriors completed a 12-3 run after Sumang found Hernandez wide open on the weakside, 71-70. UE slotman Jairold Flores committed an inadvertent unsportsmanlike foul on Mariano, who canned both free throws to make it a 72-71 affair. Free throws by Sumang again gave UE the lead – the 13th lead change of the game – but UST blitzed to a crucial 12-1 run within the last three minutes to give them a 10-point lead with under a minute remaining, 84-74.

UE still had time to get that elusive second win, but they kept missing point-blank baskets. A triple by reserve Dan Alberto gave them a slight ray of hope, but consecutive makes by Daquioag and Mariano sealed the hard-fought win for the Tigers.

Sumang scored 21 points in a losing cause, spreading 20 markers over the last two quarters. Olivarez followed suit with 15 points and five rebounds, while Javier added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Mammie was suspended after roughhousing Adamson forward Roider Cabrera in their previous game. The 6’8” center has been leading the league in rebounds so far with a 15.3 average over three games, and is currently leading his team in blocks with one per outing. - RAF/AMD, GMA News


The scores:

UST – Abdul 25, Mariano 24, Daquioag 19, Ferrer 9, Bautista 8, So 3, Pe 0, Marata 0, Tan 0, Lo 0

UE – Sumang 21, Olivarez 15, Javier 10, Casajeros 9, Santos 6, Sumido 3, Jumao-as 3, Hernandez 3, Alberto 3, Noble 2, Flores 2, Galanza 0

Quarter scoring:  16-10, 34-34, 63-56, 88-77
LOADING CONTENT