Knowing that Far Eastern University had already seen what he has in store for them, Aldin Ayo had another trick up his sleeve during University of Santo Tomas’ win-or-go-home game, Wednesday.
“Walang madali eh. Right from the start, nung season namin, talagang mahirap eh. Itong laro na ‘to, akala namin madali. Pero FEU ‘yung kalaban namin eh. Hindi basta’t basta bibigay. Lalaro nang maayos,” shared Ayo.
“They are well-coached, they have the players.”
That surprise was starting Brent Paraiso. And the 6-foot-2 swingman delivered on the biggest of stages.
Paraiso provided the spark for UST, scoring 13 points in the opening frame alone built on four triples.
More importantly, the former DLSU Green Archer showed poise when things got chippy.
During the second stanza, he figured in numerous skirmishes with Alec Stockton. But instead of letting Stockton get in his head, he simply moved away.
“I think we just wanted it more than FEU. We did it for our seniors, and for our coach, we did it for the community rin.”
Paraiso ended up with 18 points, helping UST weather a late FEU surge to take an 81-71 win and climb up the stepladder.
At the end of the day, though, Paraiso and the Growling Tigers wanted to prove a point.
“We just wanted it more today,” he closed.
