UE’s CJ Payawal during a game against UST in the UAAP Season 85 men’s basketball tournament. UAAP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—CJ Payawal buried five threes and hit all of his 17 points in the second half as University of the East defeated University of Santo Tomas, 81-51, on Wednesday at the UAAP Season 85 men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Luis Villegas scored 13 of his 16 points in the first half that prepared the stage for the 30-point blowout and eventually snapped the Warriors’ three-game slide.
The Warriors restrained the Growling Tigers to nine points in the second quarter for a 45-23 halftime edge and coasted the rest of the way to notch their fourth win in nine games.
“I’m so happy with their performance, especially from the guys coming off the bench. It was a total team effort and it helped a lot,” said UE coach Jack Santiago after the Warriors produced 35 bench points and 22 points off turnovers.
Adama Faye muscled his way to 23 points and 18 rebounds, but these monster numbers weren’t enough to pull the Growling Tigers out of a rut.
The Tigers lost their seventh game in a row after opening the season with a victory over the Adamson Falcons.
The Scores:
UE 81 — Payawal 17, Villegas 16, Tulabut 8, Sawat 6, Antiporda 6, N. Paranada 6, Remogat 5, K. Paranada 4, Stevens 4, Pagsanjan 3, Beltran 3, Guevarra 3, Abatayo 0, Langit 0.
UST 51 — Faye 23, Pangilinan 8, Cabanero 7, Manalang 4, Manaytay 4, Escobido 2, Lazarte 2, Valentin 1, Calimag 0, Garing 0, Gesalem 0, Duremdes 0.
Quarters: 25-14, 45-23, 60-36, 81-51.