University of the East bucked repeated comebacks by University of Santo Tomas to eke out a 60-59 win in the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan Saturday.
UE rookie Joshua Gonzales hit two free throws off a foul by UST’s Jon Sheriff with 1:33 left in the game to make it 60-57.
Sheriff redeemed himself by hitting a jumper as UST moved to within 60-59, which turned out to be the final score.
UE’s Paul Varilla turned the ball over in the next play but the Warriors managed to foil the Tigers’ final attempt to escape with the victory.
The Warriors went up by 10 points, 25-15, in the first quarter but the Growling Tigers, sans Kevin Ferrer, Louie Vigil, and Karim Abdul, managed to take the half, 32-29.
The Tigers led by seven points to start the fourth period behind the inside plays of Ed Daquioag and Mario Bonleon, who were part of the UE squad that ruled the Filoil tournament in 2013.
The Red Warriors charged back with three triples courtesy of Varilla, Gonzales and rookie point guard Philip Manalang to tie the match at 57-all with 3:40 to play.
UE took the lead for good on a free throw by African Betrand Awana.
Varilla topscored for UE with 10 points.
Bonelon and Daquioag scored 17 and 12 points respectively for UST.