The UST Growling Tigers found an unlikely source of offense that led to them to its breakthrough win in the UAAP Season 79 Men’s Basketball tournament.
Third year Growling Tiger Renzo Subido gained the hot hand, leading the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers to an 88-87 win over the University of the East Red Warriors Saturday afternoon at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Subido led the season hosts after dropping a career-high 26 points on 9-of-16 shooting – knocking down four triples in the game. Backcourt-mates Jon Sheriff and Marvin Lee complemented Subido’s career game, adding 15 and 14 points respectively while King Tigers Louie Vigil scored 10 markers.
“God is good!,” first year UST head coach Boy Sablan exclaimed after notching his first-ever UAAP win.
The Red Warriors were up by as much as 15 points early in the second frame as the season hosts could not break the dreaded Pumaren-press, committing 21 turnovers in just the first half.
With his team needing a lift, Subido stepped up, scoring 11 points in the second quarter alone to slice the lead to as low as five points during that frame.
The Growling Tigers continued to surge in the third frame as the Espana-based squad went on a 13-3 run to gain its first taste of the lead, 52-50, after four straight points by Jan Macasaet and free throws by Oliver de Guzman. Subido then finished the quarter strong for UST, scoring nine points in the last two minutes of the quarter to give UST a 69-64 lead entering the final quarter.
The former De La Salle Zobel-standout continued to torch the Red Warriors as he knocked down back-to-back threes that helped give UST its biggest lead of the game, 79-68, early in the final frame.
“Alam kong puputok yun, nakita ko sa Cebu at sa Taiwan,” Sablan said about Subido, who hardly played in his first two seasons with UST. “Yung tamang time lang talaga kailangan ni Renzo. Nahanap na niya ngayon.”
After going cold from downtown most of the game, the Red Warriors finally found its touch. Triples by Mark Olayon and Bonbon Batiller sparked a UE rally while costly turnovers by Louie Vigil led to free throws for Batiller and Palma that cut the UST lead to a solitary point, 86-85, with 42 ticks remaining.
A split by Marvin Lee from the stripe gave life to the Red Warriors but misses from downtown by Batiller and Paul Varilla, and a perfectly timed steal by Reggie Basibas against Renz Palma, off the rebound, sealed the win for the Growling Tigers.
“Kahit nagka-problema nung huli, may mga questionable calls nung huli, naka-survive ang UST,” a relieved Sablan added.
Nick Abanto and Batiller paced UE with 15 points each with the latter shooting just 5-of-17 from the field but was able to grab 11 boards. Mark Olayon added 14 markers.
As a team, the Growling Tigers were able to set-off its 31 turnovers by shooting an excellent 48 percent from the field compared to just 35 percent for UE, going just two-of-21 from distance.
The UST Growling Tigers (1-1) look to build a streak as it face the DLSU Green Archers on Wednesday , September 14 at 4:00pm. The UE Red Warriors (0-2), on the other hand, face the Far Eastern University Tamaraws on Sunday, September 18 at 4:00pm.
The Scores:
UST (88) – Subido 26, Sheriff 15, Lee 14, Vigil 10, Macasaet 8, Basibas 4, Faundo 4, Lao 3, Bonleon 2, De Guzman 2, Afoakwah 0, Huang 0.
UE (87) – Abanto 15, Batiller 15, Olayon 14, Palma 10, Pasaol 8, Bartolome 6, De Leon 4, Charcos 4, Manalang 4, Varilla 3, Armenion 2, Gagate 2, Derige 0, Larupay 0, Penuela 0.
Quarterscores: 16-24, 39-47, 69-64, 88-87.
