The UST Growling Tigers suffered a miserable end to their season with a 109-65 beatdown from the neighboring FEU Tamaraws in the final elimination game day of the UAAP Season 84 Men’s Basketball Tournament on Labor Day, May 1, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
After a seven-point deficit to end the first quarter, the Tams started to catch fire in the second frame to bring a 15-point lead heading into halftime.
From this point onwards, it was just a cruise for the Morayta-based squad on the way to the win, putting up a 35-point quarter against UST’s 13 which saw the latter chasing a 37-point deficit heading into the fourth, 84-47.
And by the dying minutes of play, they were able to notch their biggest lead at 44 courtesy of a Rodel Gravera triple that turned it into a 107-63 affair.
To add salt to the wound of the Tigers, this loss marks the third team to hit the century mark against them. Prior to FEU’s 107 today, there were La Salle’s 112 points last April 19, and the unbeaten Ateneo’s 101 a mere two days later.
Furthermore, the conclusion of this game effectively seals UST’s second-round record to a mere 1-6 card, with their lone win coming against the cellar-dwelling University of the East on April 12.
Nic Cabanero and Josh Fontanilla led the Tigers with 16 and 13 markers respectively. Fontanilla also added five boards and four steals and three dimes in his swan song for the Tigers. Both, however, made up for 10 of UST’s 18 turnovers. Cabanero with four, and Fontanilla with six.
Sherwin Concepcion also chipped in 10 markers, most coming in the second half wherein the game was already out of reach.
For the Tamaraws, Bryan Sajonia was a man possessed with seven triples and 27 markers to his name. RJ Abarrientos had 11 markers while Royce Alforque and LJ Gonzales had 10 points apiece.
Abarrientos also had nine boards to his name to go along with six dimes. Alforque and Gonzales on the other hand had six and seven dimes respectively.
The Scores:
FEU 109 — Sajonia 27, Abarrientos 11, Alforque 10, Gonzales 10, Sleat 9, Ojoula 8, Torres 8, Bienes 8, Celzo 6, Gravera 5, Dulatre 2, Sandagon 2, Tempra 2, Li 1, Coquia 0.
UST 65 — Cabañero 16, Fontanilla 13, Concepcion 10, Manalang 6, Manaytay 5, Pangilinan 5, Canoy 4, Gomez de Liaño 3, Ando 2, Garing 1, Herrera 0, Yongco 0, Gesalem 0, Mantua 0.
Quarterscores: 22-15, 49-34, 74-47, 109-65
Sports Writer & Editor (2019), Associate Editor (2019-2020), Managing Editor & Executive Vice President (2020-2021), Executive Vice President (2021-2022)
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