UAAP champions Far Eastern University-Diliman and University of Santo Tomas saw their 2026 NBA Rising Stars Invitational campaigns come to an end after splitting their group-stage assignments at the OCBC Arena in Singapore.
The Baby Tamaraws and the Junior Growling Tigresses both opened their campaigns in impressive fashion.
FEU-D routed Singapore’s Hwa Chong Institution, 89-24, last Tuesday, while UST cruised past Mongolia’s Royal International School, 75-45.
However, both squads fell short in their decisive group matches on Thursday.
The defending UAAP girls’ basketball champions suffered a heartbreaking 81-78 loss to Australia’s Rowville Secondary College, while the reigning UAAP boys’ champions bowed to Japan’s Tottori Johoku High School, 81-75.
The victories completed perfect group-stage sweeps for Rowville and Tottori Johoku, allowing them to advance to the semifinals as the top teams from Pools B and D, respectively.
Earlier in the tournament, Rowville defeated Royal International School, 73-48, while Tottori Johoku overwhelmed Hwa Chong, 91-22, to secure their places in the knockout stage.
Trailing by six points, 81-75, with 15 seconds remaining, Sofia Petalcorin knocked down a three-pointer to keep UST’s hopes alive.
On the ensuing possession, Rhiane Perez came up with a steal from Bridgette Kata but missed a breakaway layup. Lea Pinuela grabbed the offensive rebound, but the Junior Growling Tigresses were unable to get another shot off before time expired.
(C) NBA Asia
Later in the evening, the Baby Tamaraws mounted a furious comeback after trailing by nine points with less than two minutes remaining. FEU-D trimmed the deficit to 79-75 following a JJ Dagcutan putback off a JB Cagurungan miss with 17 seconds left.
The Baby Tamaraws, however, could not complete the rally as Dwyne Enriquez missed two crucial free throws in the closing seconds, while Yuki Yamasaki converted his attempts from the line to seal the victory for the Japanese side.
Pinuela and Petalcorin paced UST against Rowville with 16 points apiece, while Perez posted eight points and 12 rebounds. Lhian Arabi also contributed seven points and 13 rebounds.
Tiedore Puoch powered Rowville with a dominant performance of 33 points and 19 rebounds. Vanessa Tavete added 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Kata chipped in 10 points and 12 rebounds.
For FEU-D, Cagurungan and Prince Cariño scored 16 points each, with Cariño also collecting eight rebounds. JA Lopez added 10 points.
Genji Fukumoto led Tottori Johoku with 22 points, highlighted by five three-pointers, while Philemon Talmon posted 20 points and 23 rebounds.
In FEU-D’s opening win over Hwa Chong, Cagurungan and Cariño spearheaded the attack with 22 and 21 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, in UST’s victory over Royal International School, Perez recorded 19 points and 14 rebounds, while Jesabel Anacan added 13 points and 10 rebounds.
