UST back in finals after six years; Ferrer stops Parks

MANILA, Philippines — It may have taken a while, but University of Santo Tomas finally made it back to the finals after six years.

UST needed a huge counter effort towards the end of the third quarter to finish off National University with a 63-57 finals spot-clincher Saturday in the 75th UAAP men’s basketball tournament.

“2006 to 2012, it’s been six years and we’re here again,” said head coach Pido Jarencio, who also steered UST to the finals the last time.

Back-to-back triples for Jeric Fortuna ignited and capped a 14-1 run, that swung the lead back to the Tigers for good, bridging the final two quarters.

It was a group effort for the Tigers that basically propelled them all day, but getting into the finals past a deadly Bulldogs in just one try wouldn’t be possible if Kevin Ferrer hadn’t shown up.

Ferrer not only scored a team-best 17 points, he also aced the toughest assignment of stopping season MVP Bobby Ray Parks Jr.

“I knew that if I could stop Parks, we could win,” said the soft spoken Ferrer, whose defense, once again, seemed to have gotten inside Parks’ head.

Parks only had a marker in the fourth period, although he, along with Jello Alolino, helped bring the Tigers’ lead down to just two points.

Aljon Mariano, who added 14 points, nailed a quick undegoal stab with a minute and half, which was just the jolt that the Tigers needed after missing so many attempts, for a 61-57 lead.

Mariano added seven rebounds and four assists, providing solid back-up for Karim Abdul who churned out 14 points and eight boards.

Jeoffrey Javillionar paced the Bulldogs with 15 points — but missed on three crucial triples in the final period, failing to bail his squad out in the absence of Parks’ offensive spurts.

Parks, who will receive his second MVP award, only had 12 points.

“Our immaturity showed in this game,” said NU’s head coach Eric Altamirano. “But we are going to use this game as inspiration for next year.”

NU, on an almost-crippling 11-2 run, nabbed the lead midway the third quarter but lost it in just a snap.

The Bulldogs made it to the final four for the first time in after a decade, but its stint was shortlived as it faced a twice-to-beat disadvantage.