USJR defends fort, downs UST to rule Recoletos Cup

University of San Jose-Recoletos wins the 1st Recoletos de Cebu Cup. Screengrab from USJ-R website.

University of San Jose-Recoletos didn’t let the visitors invade its home floor, repulsing University of Santo Tomas, 89-86, to win the 1st Recoleto de Cebu Cup Sunday at USJ-R Basak Campus in Cebu.

The Jaguars held the Growling Tigers scoreless in the final 1:51 of the game as they clawed back from an 86-82 deficit and leaned on Arnie Padilla in the clutch.

Padilla was at the right place at the right time as he scored the go-ahead putback to push USJ-R up, 87-86, followed by Jaybee Mantilla canning both of his freebies to give the hosts a three-point edge with 5.6 seconds remaining.

UST still had a chance to force overtime, but Kent Lao’s trey at the buzzer fell way short.

Earlier in the game, Tigers big man Jeepy Faundo and Jaguars forward Melvin Navarra had a scuffle which led to their ejections at the 6:00mark of the payoff period.

It was a tough finish for UST, which swept the elimination round after beating the top three teams in Cesafi.

University of San Carlos also placed third in the four-team tournament after lording over University of Cebu. JE