PBA D-League: UST ousts Letran to claim last quarterfinals spot

UST’s Sherwin Concepcion goes for a layup against Letran in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup. PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines—The Builders Warehouse-UST Growling Tigers sealed their spot in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup quarterfinals after trouncing defending NCAA champions Wangs Basketball-Letran Knights, 89-81 at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig on Tuesday

The Tigers, who locked up the sixth seed with a 3-4 win-loss record, will face the Jinino Manansala-coached Adalem Construction-St. Clare Saints in the quarters. Manansala called the shots for the Tigers in UAAP Season 84.

“We believed in ourselves and our mindset is really for ‘new Tigers’,” UST interim coach Albert Alocillo said.

St. Clare will have a twice-to-beat advantage against UST after clinching the No. 3 spot following an 80-66 victory over top seed Apex Fuel-San Sebastian earlier.

Letran held a four-point cushion in the fourth quarter, 75-71, before the Tigers clawed back with an 18-6 finishing run to boot the Knights out of contention.

Sherwin Concepcion led the Tigers with 17 points while Nic Cabanero added 16.

Louie Sangalang scored a game-high 18 points for Letran, which also drew 17 from Fran Yu.