UST eliminates No. 2 UP, roars back into UAAP Finals vs Ateneo

FILE – UST Growling Tigers march back to the UAAP Finals. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines— University of Santo Tomas kept its sensational playoff run going with a thrilling 68-65 win over University of the Philippines Wednesday night to punch its ticket in the finals before a crowd of 18,458 UAAP Season 82 at Mall of Asia Arena.

READ: UST turns to its defense to beat fancied UP anew 

Renzo Subido knocked down the game’s biggest shot – a triple – with 23.5 seconds remaining for the go-ahead basket, 66-65, as the Growling Tigers rallied late in the game to survive their third straight knockout game in the stepladder semifinals.

Block by UST and some huge misses for UP. | @cedelfptINQ pic.twitter.com/eDcAnnsVnJ

— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) November 13, 2019

Struggling in the final quarter, Soulemane Chabi Yo atoned for all of his misses earlier by making two pressure-packed foul shots with 4.4 seconds left as UST forged a finals duel with unbeaten Ateneo in the best-of-three finals starting Saturday.

READ: Renzo Subido’s playmaking key in UST win over UP

The No. 2 seed UP, which had a twice to beat advantage, had one final chance to send the game to overtime, but James Spencer missed a wide open three as the buzzer sounded, sending the yellow-clad UST gallery in jubilation.

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