Totally focused

ANTIPOLO CITY—University of Santo Tomas was all business in handling National University, scoring an 88-76 victory in Season 82 of the UAAP men’s basketball tournament at Ynares Center here on Saturday.

The Growling Tigers, whose ace forward Rhenz Abando was recently reported to be the subject of being recruited by a rival school, played without distractions and rose to 7-6 while sending the Bulldogs reeling to a league-worst 2-9 and out of Final Four contention.

Far Eastern University repeated over La Salle, 81-60, in the second game and claimed solo fourth as jockeying for playoff position nears fever pitch with the elimination round heading to its homestretch.

The Tamaraws got a bit of a breather with the win, going half-a-game up on the Green Archers after improving to 6-6.

La Salle slipped below .500 with a 5-6 record.

Santo Tomas, which welcomed back Abando after a benching incident in the last game, led by as many as 23 points, 58-35, before NU managed to cut it down to nine, 65-56, heading into the fourth.

The Tigers then stepped on the gas again and built a new 20-point lead, 88-68, off a 23-13 run late in the game.

“They were having fun, but they know that there’s still the responsibility of playing,” said Santo Tomas coach Aldin Ayo.

Soulemane Chabi Yo put up a 17-point, 14-rebound double-double for the Tigers, while CJ Cansino had a season-high 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, five rebounds and three steals.

Renzo Subido and Mark Nonoy also finished in double figures with 14 and 12 points, respectively, while Abando looked aggressively for his shots and finished with nine points on 4-of-13 shooting.

Dave Ildefonso had a game-high 27 points with six rebounds for the Bulldogs, who are missing the Final Four for the fourth straight season.

Bouncing back from their 65-55 loss to Ateneo in their previous game, the Tamaraws were a lot sharper, going to work immediately and taking a 27-11 lead at the end of the first period.

The Tamaraws would never relinquish the lead as they held La Salle to a poor 23-of-71 shooting while converting on 33 of their 61 attempts from the field.

“I was impressed with our offense and more than that, I was happy with our defense,” said FEU head coach Olsen Racela, whose team also beat the Archers, 66-55, in the first round.

The Tamaraws never let up the whole game and Ken Tuffin gave them a 22-point lead, 74-52, midway through the fourth.

LJ Gonzales stuffed the stat sheets for FEU with 14 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

Tuffin also finished with 14 points for the Tamaraws while Wendell Comboy added 12 points and seven boards.

Justine Baltazar had 16 points and nine boards for the Green Archers.