UST guard Paraiso helps shut down former teammate Rivero

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Brent Paraiso waited for more than a year before officially making his return in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament for University of Santo Tomas.

But it took just his second game this season for him to compete against a familiar face in Ricci Rivero, who was his former teammate at La Salle.

Despite the long wait, Paraiso didn’t seem to be bothered with the long layoff as he put the clamps on Rivero.

Rivero had a disaster of a game going 1-of-10 from the field for four points while turning the ball over six times.

Paraiso said it was his familiarity with Rivero that allowed him to pester Rivero and help University of Santo Tomas claim a 85-69 win over University of the Philippines.

“I’ve been playing with him since grade school so basically I know how he plays and I just used that to matchup against him,” said Paraiso Saturday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Paraiso, for his part, had six points all of which came from beyond the arch.

Known as a defensive stopper during his time with the Green Archers, Paraiso said he worked on his outside shooting when he arrived at UST.

“I’ve been working on my threes lately,” said Paraiso. “When I was in La Salle I think I had just one or two total three-pointers in the two years I’ve played there so when I transferred to UST I worked on it.”

Paraiso added that he’s had no problems fitting in with UST since he’s still under the same coach in Aldin Ayo.

“I’ve been fitting in pretty well because the system of coach Aldin in La Salle is the same here,” said Paraiso.