UAAP: Mariano shows his might to power UST past Ateneo

4:17 pm | Thursday, July 19th, 2012

MANILA, Philippines—University of Santo Tomas clawed back and leaned on a pivotal third quarter to escape defending champion Ateneo, 71-70, Thursday in the 75th UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The returning Aljon Mariano proved to be the Blue Eagles’ worst nightmare as he powered his way through 21 points, 13 in that huge third period turnaround where the Growling Tigers flipped the script and took over the lead, and 13 rebounds.

Staring at a 19-point lead and a bothersome problem on transition defense, an unfazed UST unleashed all its offensive options and surged to a stifling 30-11 run.

The Growling Tigers ended a string of defeats to the Blue Eagles dating back to August 4, 2007, which was the first round of season 70.

UST also recovered from a heartbreaking loss to Far Eastern University last Saturday for the squad’s first victory of the season.

“I wanted to prove to that they really need to prepare every time they play us,” said Mariano, who sat out the entirety of last season due to an ankle fracture.

Jeric Teng, who knocked down five crucial points in the payoff period which gave UST a precious 67-60 edge with a little over three minutes left, chipped in 16 points and seven boards.

But with Ateneo threatening to snatch the victory, Karim Abdul stepped up and took it to Greg Slaughter down the low for two crucial points, his 14th of the game, with 10.2 left on the clock.

The Blue Eagles, absorbing their first loss of the season, pulled within a point on a triple by Juami Tiongson with 4.3 seconds left— reeling from squandering a 39-20 edge.

But after Teng intentionally missed the second freebie, Ateneo, also unable to get the rebound, was left with no time for a desperation shot.

Kiefer Ravena topscored for the Blue Eagles, who caused all sorts of problems from UST on the fastbreak, with 18 points while Nico Salva added 17 points.

Seven-foot center Greg Slaughter was held to just nine points and five rebounds.

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Tags: Aljon Mariano , Ateneo Blue Eagles , Basketball , News , Sports , UAAP , UST Tigers

mel elona

Hahaha I thought UST players would again lose their stamina near the end of the game. Do more jogging around your campus next time.
USTEAKO

Great teamwork! Hats off to the Team & Coach Pido! Line-up this year is strong and matured! Field goal shooting percentage is high thus no need to focus more on inside play as players are versatile. Abdul has improved a lot in outside shooting, as well as, in moving the ball! I just hope that he could improve more on his assist category especially when double team or when defense collapse on him as the line-up has a high percentage field goal shooting. He could serve as a deecoy inside. No need for one-on-one play or isolation play as USTE have a strong line-up this year. There is a need to further strengthen other centers as substitute for Abdul. Give them the confidence and they will be motivated to show their best. In the FEU game, the substitution was not good enough as Jeric Teng could hardly cope with RR Garcia in the fourth qtr. due to tiredness while Jeric Fortuna succumbed to screen on Terence Romeo with hardly any help defense. Definitely, you have a winning line-up this year. Just keep on improving!
marionics

uuuuy…go uste go go uste!

UAAP: Mariano shows his might to power UST past Ateneo

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