Growling Tigers Title Bid on the way
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No upset.
Host UST, the reigning UAAP champs, prevented a Far Eastern University upset, scored a convincing 80-69 win to take the last semifinals bus seat of the 70th UAAP men’s basketball tournament last September 17 at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Growling Tigers, playing like a true champion, relied on their superb second quarter performance to deny the Tamaraws a chance in making it to the semifinals for the second consecutive year.
UST, with the important win, faces the loser of the Ateneo-La Salle playoff game set at 3pm at the big dome. Meanwhile, the winner, between La Salle and Ateneo will occupy the No. 2 spot.
“We are still alive,� said UST head coach Pido Jarencio. “This is not the real game yet but we are ready to face any opponent.�
The Growling Tigers outscored the Tamaraws in the second quarter, 22-6, to get an insurmountable 39-25 halftime edge.
FEU attempted for a 16-5 rally but fell short after UST leaned on its steady free throw shooting particularly by Jun Cortez and Cruz to seal all things up.
Leading MVP candidate Jervy Cruz, a 6-foot-6 MVP candidate, scored 17 points and 14 rebounds to pace UST in scoring, while guard Anthony Espiritu added 12 points.
“Everything turned out to be on our favor in the last three quarters,� said Cruz, who already had 13 points in first half. “They tried everything to survive but we were not going to give up also.�
“We lost to them earlier but we fought everything we’ve got today to win this crucial playoff game,� said Espiritu, referring to the Growling Tigers’ 84-73 lost to the Tamaraws last September 13.
After three deadlocks early in the second quarter, UST did the crucial breakaway at the five-minute mark after dropping a crippling 18-2 bomb capped by Dylan Ababou’s lay up with 56 seconds left for a 39-23 bubble before halftime.
“We altered our defense in the second quarter, so we were able to give them a different look,� said Jarencio.
UST carved the game’s biggest lead, 59-35, with Khasim Mirza firing a trey, with still four minutes to go in the third quarter.
FEU narrowed the gap as it unleashed eight straight points to move closer, 43-59, with 1:36 minutes remaining in the third quarter. But the Growling Tigers pulled away again, 67-47, early in the fourth quarter after Mark Canlas banged in a jumper.
The Tamaraws uncorked a 19-8 bomb capped by a three-pointer from guard Paul Sanga to cut down the lead to 66-75, with still 1:46 minutes remaining. FEU, though, never made it anymore as time wasn’t on its side.
Reil Cervantes, who was ejected due to two unsportsmanlike fouls, led FEU with 17 points with nine boards, while Mac Baracael added 15 points.
Anton Montinola, the FEU board representative to the UAAP, told inboundpass.com that they accepted this loss and guaranteed to return stronger next year.
“UST played like a true champion today,� said Montinola. “We played bad in the second quarter and we paid the price.�
The six points scored of FEU in the second period is a season-low. The Tamaraws ended the season in fifth place.
Individual Scores:
UST (80) – Cruz 17, Espiritu 12, Ababou 11, Mirza 11, Cuan 8, Cortez 8, Taylor 7, Canlas 6, Dizon 0, Allera 0.
FEU (69) – Cervantes 17, Baracael 15, Sanga 9, Cawaling 8, Ramos 8, Fernandez 4, Abaring 3, Adolfo 3, Cabagnot 2, Alisbo 0, Barroca 0, Knuttel 0.
Quarter scores: 17-19; 39-25; 63-43; 80-69
Tags: Anton-Montinola, FEU, Growling-Tigers, News, Nike, Pido-Jarencio, Press-Talk, Tamaraws, UAAP, USTRelated posts
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wye
+0
Monday, 24 September 2007 at 3:44 pm
Wait do we all know why Pido cried? Was it because we lost? Sigurado kang dahil dun? Baka naman kasi napuwing lang siya..
Kidding aside..crap..no way can anyone bring down Pido. La Salle was suspended last year because of your own wrong doing..it had nothing to do with losing a good fight..right? Crying wasn’t an option for you..you just had to gut it out and forget about it..succesfully you did.
Analogy: 2 students are taking an exam..one used a kodigo and got caught..the other studied hard but failed none the less because it was a very difficult exam. Point conveyed.
Pido, having talked to him around campus last year, is very dedicated to the school. That is why he was so emotional during the loss. Siya kasi yung tipo ng coach na hindi sisisihin yung mga players o ibabaling yung pagkatalo sa iba (at lalo na hindi siya naghahanap ng palusot sa pagkatalo/nagproprotesta..Is that taking defeat like a man?), tatanggapin niya ang pagkatalo..emosyonal lang siyang tao and that is what the UST spirit is about. Of course, not as emotional as Ilad..that is a whole different thing.
Anyway, we do know how to accept defeat “like a man” and we gave our hearts out so cheers to the UST communtiy!
Thank you and good luck to Dizon, Espiritu and Cortez!
wye
+0
Monday, 24 September 2007 at 3:43 pm
Wait, do we all know why Pido cried? Was it because we lost? Sigurado kang dahil dun? Baka naman kasi napuwing lang siya..
Kidding aside..crap..no way can anyone bring down Pido. La Salle was suspended last year because of your own wrong doing..it had nothing to do with losing a good fight..right? Crying wasn’t an option for you..you just had to gut it out and forget about it..succesfully you did.
Analogy: 2 students are taking an exam..one used a kodigo and got caught..the other studied hard but failed none the less because it was a very difficult exam. Point conveyed.
Pido, having talked to him around campus last year, is very dedicated to the school. That is why he was so emotional during the loss. Siya kasi yung tipo ng coach na hindi sisisihin yung mga players o ibabaling yung pagkatalo sa iba (at lalo na hindi siya naghahanap ng palusot sa pagkatalo/nagproprotesta..Is that taking defeat like a man?), tatanggapin niya ang pagkatalo..emosyonal lang siyang tao and that is what the UST spirit is about. Of course, not as emotional as Ilad..that is a whole different thing.
Anyway, we do know how to accept defeat “like a man” and we gave our hearts out so cheers to the UST communtiy!
Thank you and good luck to Dizon, Espiritu and Cortez!
stewie
+0
Monday, 24 September 2007 at 1:42 pm
si pido pa iyak-iyak pa.
ang la salle na suspend last year, may umiyak ba sa amin? WALA!
if you know how to accept defeat, take it like a man. wala ng pa iyak iyak.
.............
+0
Monday, 24 September 2007 at 1:36 pm
“At least we know how to accept defeat… are you?”
uhm, I think you mean “do you?” instead of “are you?”
may i ask what the humungous banner saying “kami po ang university of santo tomas” banner was for?
kudos to Pido though… he had more reasons to be proud than to cry. galing! some ust banners said pa naman that the tigers were on fire… i think they forgot that Pido’s monicker was “the fireman”… ayan tuloy hehe joke… congrats for the good fight though!
how’s mrs.francisco doing by the way?
stewie
+0
Monday, 24 September 2007 at 1:33 pm
Am I what???!!
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