Joshua Fontanilla showed why he is such a prized transferee as he propelled University of Santo Tomas to its second straight win in the UAAP Season 84 Men’s Basketball Tournament with a 79-72 victory against Adamson University, Saturday evening, at the closed-door SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Fontanilla scored five unanswered points in crunch time to give the Growling Tigers a 77-70 lead with only 19.3 seconds to go. Adamson court general Jerom Lastimosa, though, cut the lead to 72-77 with 11.5 seconds remaining in the ballgame.
“Si Josh, kinakabahan ako kanina. Nagpapaagaw,” said UST coach Jinino Manansala . “Pag kailangan tong batang to, alam ko na. Sa kanya na yun. Thank you Josh. Thank you Paul (Manalang).”
Forced to foul, Nic Cabanero was brought to the line and with 5.3 seconds on the clock, he contributed both free throws to set UST on its way to victory.
Team captain Paul Manalang led UST with 15 points at the back of 5-out-of-7 three-point shooting. Fontanilla had 10 points and Bryan Santos contributed nine points and eight rebounds.
Three-point shooting was key for UST today as it shot 33.3 percent from the three-point line while Adamson only shot 19.2 percent.
“Thank God for this win. We thank the Thomasian community sa walang sawang suporta. Mga pamilya namin, tagal naming di nakikita, para sa inyo to at lalong-lalo na kay Aldin Ayo,” added Manansala. “Lumabas na eh. Last game, close fight din kami ng UE. Nakikita na namin sa mga bata na kaya na nila tumapos ng game. ”
For Adamson, Lastimosa flirted with a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds. Lenda Douanga had 16 points and Vince Magbuhos produced eight points.
Both schools shall play Tuesday at the SM MOA Arena. UST (2-2) takes on host school De La Salle University at 10:00 AM while Adamson (1-3) goes up against University of the Philippines after at 1:00 PM.
The Scores:
UST 79 – Manalang 15, Fontanilla 10, Santos 9, Cabañero 8, Concepcion 7, Herrera 6, Ando 6, Manaytay 5, Mantua 5, Yongco 3, Gomez de Liaño 3, Pangilinan 2, Samudio 0, Canoy 0.
AdU 72 – Lastimosa 16, Douanga 16, Magbuhos 8, Peromingan 7, Zaldivar 6, Sabandal 5, Yerro 4, Colonia 3, Hanapi 3, Manzano 2, Maata 2, Jaymalin 0.
Quarterscores: 19-16, 45-41, 64-58, 79-70
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