MANILA, Philippines – The UST Growling Tigers started the UAAP Season 84 second round strong off a 72-61 comeback win over the winless UE Red Warriors at the Mall of Asia Arena on Tuesday, April 12.
The Tigers snapped a three-game losing streak to rise to a 3-5 record, and kept the Red Warriors searching for a breakthrough at 0-8.
Sherwin Concepcion, one of the league’s top snipers after the first round, did what he did best once again with a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double on 6-of-10 shooting and 5-of-9 from three.
Big man Dave Ando, meanwhile, had himself a great outing with 16 markers and a game-high 12 boards off the bench in under 23 minutes.
UE kept its hold on the game well into the third quarter, and led, 47-40, at the halfway point off a steal and pull-up triple from Kyle Paranada.
However, the Red Warriors eventually fell too much in love with the long ball, and the Tigers capitalized with a methodical 14-3 fightback, capped off by a looping Paul Manalang floater with 11 ticks left in the third.
Despite having little to no success from downtown, UE insisted on a five-out offense for pretty much the entire final frame, and predictably, UST kept the upper hand, and capped off the night with a Concepcion dagger trey with 35.3 seconds left in regulation.
“We just gutted the game out. The first three quarters went back-and-forth, and both teams were neck-and-neck, but we found the right guys to score, and Ando had a career-high. That was a big help,” said UST head coach Jinino Manansala in Filipino.
Paranada eventually quieted down after a nine-point, three-triple third quarter, but still scored a game-high 17 plus 3 steals in 22 minutes. Go-to guy Harvey Pagsanjan, meanwhile, backstopped the losing effort with 16 points and 9 rebounds.
A tougher challenge will greet UST after a one-week break as it goes up against De La Salle Green Archers on Tuesday, April 19, 12:30 pm, while UE gets another crack at upsetting the mighty Ateneo Blue Eagles at 4:30 pm.
The Scores
UST 72 – Concepcion 17, Ando 16, Cabanero 11, Manalang 9, Fontanilla 7, Manaytay 6, M. Pangilinan 3, Mantua 3, Samudio 0, Herrera 0, Canoy 0, Gomez de Liano 0, Gesalem 0.
UE 61 – K. Paranada 17, Pagsanjan 16, Antiporda 6, Sawat 6, J. Cruz 5, Beltran 4, Lorenzana 3, Escamis 2, N. Paranada 2, Tulabut 0, Catacutan 0, Villanueva 0, P. Cruz 0, Abatayo 0.
Quarters: 11-21, 28-30, 51-54, 72-61.
– Rappler.com
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