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.