UAAP: No Abdul, no problem as Mariano corrals key rebounds for UST win

Despite struggling on offense with only seven points, Aljon Mariano grabbed four crucial rebounds in the endgame to help University of Santo Tomas to its first win in the second round of the UAAP men's basketball tournament.

Mariano shot a measly 3-of-17 in the field in 27 minutes, but stepped up in rebounding in the absence of Tigers big man Karim Abdul, who is still recovering from a viral infection.

Mariano finished with 12 rebounds, six of them on the offensive end.

"Kung saan ako makakatulong sa ibang way para manalo kami, ‘yun ang ginawa ko," Mariano said.

UST survived a scare from winless Adamson University, 61-59, after a tight end game. The Tigers were limited by the Adamson defense to just nine points in the fourth quarter.

"Yung Adamson they played very good defense again. ‘Yung zone nila nagki-click sa amin. ‘Di kami makaconvert ng outside shots and hindi kami makapagpenetrate inside," said UST coach Bong Dela Cruz.

"Good thing nung huli nag-rebound si Aljon, maraming nakuhang offensive rebound."

The absence of Abdul in the frontcourt hurt the Tigers, but UST still edged Adamson in the battle of the boards, 43-41, through Mariano's efforts.

"Medyo undersized kami pag wala si Karim so lahat naman kami kailangan magstep up, hindi lang ako, lahat kami," Mariano said. — RAF/JST, GMA News