UAAP: UST Growling Tigers show off depth, rip UP Fighting Maroons

(Updated 4:21pm) The University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers bounced back from a loss to the league-leading Far Eastern University Tamaraws last weekend, with a dominant showing against the cellar-dwelling University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, 79-69, Wednesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

UST climbs to solo second in the rankings, 4-2, while the Maroons are still winless after six games.

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

UP forward Raul Soyud served a one-game suspension after tallying two unsportsmanlike fouls during their games versus Adamson and Ateneo.

The Tigers battled a feisty Maroons squad, who leaned on defense and turnover points, to stalk UST for the entire first half. But UST's size advantage eventually delivered second-chance points and baskets inside, and a crucial trey by Clark Bautista with two minutes to play dissolved a late Maroons run in the game's final moments.

Aljon Mariano led all scorers with 18 points and six rebounds. Kevin Ferrer tallied 16 markers and 10 boards, while Karim Abdul added 14 points and eight caroms. Clark Bautista finished with 12 points.

UST head coach Pido Jarencio fielded nearly all his players today, explaining that it resulted from their last loss to the FEU Tamaraws. "Ang sama nung nakaraan, fourth quarter nag-collapse kami," he said. "Kasalanan ko yon, yung rotation ko medyo mababaw; napagod sila.

"Ngayon medyo napaisip tayo na maghanap ng ibang players na makatulong sa team,"  said Jarencio, adding that the experience gives him more options for the long eight eliminations games ahead.

The Tigers will end the first round with a rematch of last year's finals against the Ateneo Blue Eagles on Saturday. Despite getting swept by the five-time defending champions in that series, Jarencio said that it'll be just another game they need to win to keep their rank. "Actually nabawian na namin sila sa PCCL," he said, where his team out-dueled Ateneo for the national title. "Pero siyempre sa UAAP iba ang storya, ang players, ang team."

UST raced to an early lead, as Kevin Ferrer cruised to the rack and Karim Abdul cleaned up underneath, scoring 10 points for an 11-4 tally. UST head coach Pido Jarencio then removed all his starters midway through the quarter, fielding a unit anchored by veterans Aljon Mariano and Paolo Pe.

The Maroons began to warm up, scoring twice inside to match makes by UST, before a triple by Moriah Gingerich sliced the lead to two, 15-13, with a minute and change remaining. Mariano then attacked the defense, Gingerich in particular, to score at the rim thrice over the next minute, until charities by Kyles Lao closed the quarter, 21-15.

In the second period, the Maroons showed better off-ball movement against the Tigers' reserves, as Andrew Harris scored twice along the baseline to build a 10-5 run, trailing 26-25. UST called for time at around the five-minute mark to field in their starters, and Ferrer put points on the board for the Tigers.

This time though, the Maroons were able to keep it close by overloading on defense while remaining aggressive on the other end, until a Clark Bautista trey with 23 seconds remaining gave UST a 35-31 cushion at the half.

The Tigers shot 15-of-37 (40.5 percent) from the field after two quarters, while the Maroons were 13-of-35 (37.1 percent). UP also registered an unexpected rebounding edge, 23-22.


After the halftime break, a Jason Ligad trey narrowed the deficit to one anew, 35-34. But the Tigers regained control of the game as they took things inside, with Abdul and Kim Lo combining for nine markers in an 11-2 swing, 48-38,

Abdul and Lo combined anew, to score six of the Tigers' last eight markers, but UST's turnovers also held them back. After five straight from Martin Pascual, the Maroons notched their last five points off turnovers, as Lao and Marata found open looks in transition, 56-48, heading into the final period.

No shot went unanswered early in the fourth quarter as both teams traded baskets. UP tried to make a run as Jason Ligad and Kyle Suarez hit back-to-back drives, 64-58, halfway through the period, but Mariano imposed himself inside, making four charities to sandwich a Marata triple.

UP closed in anew as charities by Pascual answered a cutting move by Ed Daquioag to keep the deficit at five, but Bautista drained a trey with two minutes remaining to award UST a 73-65 advantage. The Maroons never threatened again, as a Mariano put-back and Bautista charities put the game out of reach in the final minute.

The Tigers finished with a 33-of-73 (45.2 percent) clip from the field against the Maroons' 27-of-70 (38.6 percent) mark. UST eventually won the rebounding battle, 46-39, including 22-20 offensive. UST also notched 23 second-chance points against UP's 16.

The Maroons led in turnover points, 15-8, off a 14-13 turnover disadvantage.

Sam Marata led UP with 16 points, finishing as the sole Maroon in double-digit scoring. Kyles Lao added nine points, while Julius Wong, Martin Pascual and Chris Ball had seven apiece. Ball also tallied 11 rebounds, including seven offensive. - AMD, GMA News


The scores:

UST 79: Mariano 18, Ferrer 16, Abdul 14, Bautista 12, Lo 9, So 4, Daquioag 4, Pe 2, Tan 0, Macasaet 0, Lao 0, Hainga 0, Faundo 0

UP 69: Marata 16, Lao 9, Wong 7, Pascual 7, Ball 7, Ligad 6, Gingerich 5, Suarez 4, Harris 4, Asilum 4, Gallarza 0

Quarter scoring: 21-15, 35-31, 56-48, 79-69