FilOil: Daquioag, Teng lead UST to Final 4

MANILA, Philippines — This early, Ed Daquioag knows that he has big responsibilities in manning the point with the graduation of Jeric Fortuna.

And at least in this game, he showed he’s up to the daunting task.

Daquioag fired 11 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and issued 2 assists to tow the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers to the semifinals of the FilOil Flying V Premier Cup with an 83-73 win over the Arellano University Chiefs, Monday, June 3, at the Arena in San Juan.

“Ayaw magpatalo ng mga bata,” said UST head coach Pido Jarencio. “Sinabihan ko sila na dapat mag-step up and dapat ngayon maganda na takbo namin.”

The Chiefs closed the second quarter with a 7-0 run capped by a Nard Pinto jumper, 37-40 to stay within striking distance of the Tigers.

Arellano, one of the revelations this summer, tied the game in the third, but the Espana-based dribblers dropped a telling 10-0 bomb behind Jeric Teng, Kevin Ferrer and Daquioag to grab a 9-point cushion going into the fourth quarter, 62-53.

UST never relinquished the lead from there with Daquioag and Teng taking turns in scoring for the Tigers.

John Bangga’s bucket with under three minutes remaining in the payoff period pushed Arellano to within 63-72 but Teng racked up four straight points after a basket from Ferrer to douse water in the Chief’s last-ditch effort, 78-63 with 1:51 left in the game.

“E ano pa sasabihin ko? E ang galing e,” said Jarencio of the third year Daquioag.

“Sabi ng mga coaches namin unti-untiin ko raw (process of taking over as point guard),” quipped Daquioag.

Teng led all comers for UST with his 23 points while Karim Abdul and Ferrer chipped in 18 and 14 markers, respectively for the Growling Tigers.

Pinto paced the Chiefs with his 13 points while Bangga added 10 for Arellano. – Rappler.com