Photo by The Varsitarian
MANILA, Philippines – Determined to claw back into the final four picture, University of Santo Tomas recovered from 17 point-hole and stunned second-running Adamson University, 74-58, Saturday in the 74th UAAP men’s basketball tournament.
Jeric Teng showcased another sensational performance, along with vital cogs Jeric Fortuna, Karim Abdul and Chris Camus, as they propelled the Growling Tigers into a win – or just a loss by La Salle – away from the final four.
Coach Pido Jarencio owed the victory to his squad’s unwavering will to turn a double digit deficit against a dangerous squad like the Falcons to their seventh –third straight – victory, and put them in a prime position to advance to the next stage, and even further.
A loss by the Green Archers (4-7) Sunday against University of the Philippines will automatically hand the Growling Tigers (7-5), now just half a game behind third place Far Eastern University (7-4), the slot in the semifinals.
“I just told them that once we persevere in every minute to win, we will be unstoppable against any team,” said Jarencio, who has always been known for his motivating style of coaching. “Our defense was tenacious in the second half.”
The all-around junior wingman Teng went off in telling third quarter – after just managing a point in the entire first half – and scattered 19 of his total points including a go-ahead triple with 3:22 in the clock which capped an astounding 23-3 run for UST.
“Karim [Abdul] is marked man inside, so our shooters got enough space,” added Jarencio.
Abdul and Camus, who compose the sturdy frontline of UST which missed the services of Carmelo Afuang due to gallbladder stones, pitched in 15 and 13 points and plucked 14 and 11 rebounds, respectively.
Fortuna, missing just one of his four attempts from beyond the arc to finish with 15 points, meanwhile, nailed a trey to open up the payoff period where UST just completely rolled over the hard-luck Falcons.
Back-to-back triples by Teng and lanky rookie Kevin Ferrer stretched the gap to 68-55 with under four minutes left en route to an 18-point advantage, their biggest of the match.
Adamson’s main offensive threat – it’s lethal three point shooting – deserted them in the second half as the Falcons just made three of its 26 attempts from the field, and none from outside.
Only Alex Nuyles finished with double digits for the Falcons with 14, as they only scored 16 points in the entire second half compared to the Growling Tigers’ 47 markers.
Adamson abruptly lost steam after it led by as huge as 31-14 on two consecutive triples by Allen Etrone and ended the first half with a 42-27 buffer.
But the Falcons remain in a good spot to snare the twice-to-beat advantage and thwart Ateneo’s outright finals bid when they clash next Saturday.