MANILA, Philippines—Star guard Jeric Fortuna waxed hot in crunchtime and carried University of Santo Tomas past a retooled National University, 73-72, in overtime of the 74th UAAP Men’s basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum Thursday.
Fortuna fired in six of UST’s eight points in overtime even as he nailed two triples in the last two minutes of regulation that overhauled a dangerous 60-63 deficit to a tied ballgame.
After saving the Tigers, Fortuna stepped up anew as he spotted a wide-open lane and went for a nifty lay-in which gave them their final lead in extra time, with 39.1 ticks left.
“We have nowhere to go after a seventh place finish last season,” said the wisecracker UST mentor Pido Jarencio.
“We really have a different mentality. It’s redemption year for us,” he added.
The heralded newcomer Ray Parks, meanwhile, was dreadful in his much-awaited debut with NU, as he even missed a crucial runner in the Bulldogs’ last ditch effort with three seconds remaining.
Parks, a ranked highschool player in the US and the son of seven-time best import Bobby Ray Parks, still finished with 16 markers but fired blanks all-game for the Bulldogs with terrible 5-of-20 shooting.
Another sought after rookie Kevin Ferrer lived up to his potential with a double-double showing of 12 points and 11 rebounds including a crucial rebound off Parks’ miss with 0.7 seconds left.
Dennis Villamor, a new recruit from Rizal Technological University, even outshone Parks in his own debut with 19 points and nine boards.
The Bulldogs looked determined to pull away after a scrappy three quarters, as Villamor scored 10 unanswered points and pushed the Bulldogs’ lead to 59-52, the biggest of the game with 4:15 in regulation.
But the Tigers, who struggled sorely from the line making just one of their 11, refused to throw in the white flag and turned to their shooters.
Jeric Teng, responsible for the tight leash on Parks all game long, finished with nine points including a triple with three minutes left that sparked the blistering UST run.
Graduating forward Chris Camus, meanwhile, had 10 points and 10 rebounds in an impressive performance for the Tigers, who even lead 8-0 in the first quarter.
“My guys are made. We got a lot of experience during the pre-season,” said Jarencio of his veterans.
The scores:
UST 73- Fortuna 23, Ferrer 12, Camus 10, Teng 9, Afuang 6, Abdul 5, Pe 4, Vigil 2, Sherrif 2, Tan 0, Lao 0, Ungria 0.
NU 72- Villamor 19, Parks 16, Mbe 13, Khobuntin 8, Javillionar 5, Ignacio 4, Labing-isa 3, Alolino 2, Magat 2, Celiz 0, Terso 0, Singh 0.
Quarters: 17-14, 31-33, 44-44, 65-65 (OT) 73-72