The UST Growling Tigers outclassed the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, 82-74 in the first round of the UAAP Season 82 Men’s Basketball Tournament held at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, Sunday, September 22.

UST had a sluggish start early on, having a mediocre showing in the first half which saw them go down by 10 early on to the Tamaraws. 

However, by the second half, the Tigers came out of the gates on fire and outscored FEU 48-35 in the last two quarters. 

The Tamaraws had a comeback opportunity in the final minutes of the fourth quarter wherein they scored five straight points – courtesy of a Wendell Comboy floater and a Rey Bienes triple – to bring the score to 75-70. But unfortunately back-to-back fouls from Barkley Eboña and Bienes himself quickly ended the potential FEU comeback. 

After the game, head coach Aldin Ayo acknowledged his team’s character heading into the game especially with them coming off of a close loss in their previous matchup against Adamson.

“They responded. They responded dun sa challenge ko na they have to show up, they have to play the game. Wala naman akong hinihingi na bago sa kanila, yung nakikita ko sa kanila sa practice yun lang yung hinihingi ko sa kanila na ilabas during the game,” the champion mentor stated.

UST was once again led by Soulemane Chabi Yo who had a double-double of 21 points and 15 boards. Sherwin Concepcion also exploded for 12 points built on four three-point shots. 

“Matagal ko nang hinahantay yung laro niya na ganito. Maganda na yung mga rookies namin, they are introducing theirselves one by one. So right now Sherwin introduced himself, medyo late but better late than never, and hopefully because of this game he continues to be consistent na every game lumabas yung laro. Of course magdedepende sa kalaban namin pero he’ll find a way and kung ano man kulang niya sana turuan nya and he can start doing that in practice,” Ayo explained when asked about Concepcion’s performance.

For FEU, it was LJ Gonzales and Xyrus Torres leading the charge with 16 and 14 points respectively. 

With the win, UST goes up to 4-2 while FEU sinks further down below with their 2-3 record. 

UST is set to take on the De La Salle University Green Archers on Saturday September 28 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

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The UST Growling Tigers ran out of gas against the Adamson University Soaring Falcons, 78-71 in the first round of the UAAP Season 82 Men’s Basketball at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Wednesday.

UST caught fire early in the game which saw them post a 14-1 run heading into halftime. 

The Tigers seemed to have Adamson’s number after halftime which saw them post a 10 point lead heading into the final quarter. 

By the fourth quarter, the España-based squad were able to bring up their lead to 13 with a huge triple from Sherwin Concepcion, however Adamson slowly fought back to mount a comeback in the final minutes.

In the final four minutes of regulation, Adamson erupted for a huge 16-0 run that included back to back buckets from one-and-done Val Chauca and a Jerrick Ahanmisi lay up which erased all of UST’s hopes for a win. 

To add, UST was outscored 30-13 by the Soaring Falcons in the fourth quarter. 

Soulemane Chabi Yo proved to be the lone bright spot for the Tigers as he again posted a double-double of 17 points and 15 rebounds. 

CJ Cansino, Sherwin Concepcion and Mark Nonoy on the other hand all chipped in 10 points each. Concepcion had nine rebounds to go along with his scoring. 

After the game, Coach Aldin Ayo refused to hold an interview, simply stating “Sinindikato kami, sinindikato.”  – referring to the seemingly biased foul calling throughout the game. 

Forward Brent Paraiso on the other hand, also agreed with the officiating issues, stating in an interview with TomasinoWeb: “Uh yeah manipis nga yung mga tawag today pero you have to play through it and maturity lang dapat kami. Wala, ganoon talaga.” when asked about the issue. 

He also added when asked about how the team’s maturity played a role in the loss he said “Yeah, we can say that, but we were in control of the whole game pero yun nga the refs decided the game so we can’t do anything about it.”

The former Green Archer also supported his coach’s prior statement. 

“Yeah everyone agrees. I think, if you watch the game you’d agree with that.”

Adamson was led by fourth year guard Jerrick Ahanmisi who poured in 24 points and backcourt mate Val Chauca who had 18 – wherein most of those came in during the Falcons’ game sealing run. 

With the loss, UST goes down to 3-2, and Adamson improves with the same slate.

The Tigers will seek to bounce back against the FEU Tamaraws next on Sunday (Sept. 22) at the Ynares Center in Antipolo. 

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The UST Growling Tigers bounced back against the National University Bulldogs in overtime, 87-74, in the first round of the UAAP Season 82 Men’s Basketball at the Mall of Asia Arena Pasay, Sunday. 

NU seemed ready to pull away in regulation before a couple of crunch time heroics from Rhenz Abando, Zach Huang and Soulemane Chabi Yo helped bolster the Tigers’ comeback bid to go along with a late collapse from the Bulldogs themselves which included huge fouls from Dave Ildefonso and Issa Gaye that helped trim the NU lead in the final moments of the fourth quarter.

Bulldogs guard John Lloyd Clemente had a potential game winner before Soulemane Chabi Yo answered with an acrobatic desperation shot which tied the game at 70.  

Come overtime, the Tigers started to catch fire from behind the arc, led by two back-to-back huge triples from Rhenz Abando which sealed the win for the España-based squad.

“Sinuwerte pa kami doon sa dulo. We did not play our game noong first 3 and a half quarters. Buti nag pick up kami sa last 5 minutes ng fourth quarter. Composed pa din yung mga bata especially noong last 6 seconds.” Coach Aldin Ayo said.

Rookie Rhenz Abando had 21 points built on five three pointers and three of those came in crucial moments of the game. He also had six rebounds to complement his scoring prowess. 

Fellow rookie Soulemane Chabi Yo had another standout performance – dropping a double-double of 23 points and 20 rebounds. 

“Noong overtime na, doon ko lang naramdaman na nasa sistema na ako ni coach. Noong fourth quarter, parang nasa labas ako ng sistema niya.” Renz Abando says.

The Bulldogs on the other hand were led by Dave Ildefonso and John Lloyd Clemente who had  16 points, six rebounds and 12 points, seven rebounds respectively.

UST will face the Adamson University Soaring Falcons next on Wednesday (Sept. 18), 12:30 pm at the same venue.

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