The University of the East Red Warriors are finally showing their true potential.
The Red Warriors outworked a demoralized University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers squad, taking a 71-61 win, Saturday afternoon at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
“We know how important this game is for us,” UE head coach Derrick Pumaren said. “We just had to come out and crawl out of the hole where we’re in right now.”
And right from the get go, the Red Warriors locked down on defense as they forced the season hosts to commit 23 turnovers in the first half to gain a 41-27 lead at the break.
In total, the Growling Tigers committed 32 turnovers that led to 26 turnover points.
“That win against Adamson, we used it as a positive. We have to pick up from there,” Pumaren furthered.
Behind Mark Olayon, who led UE with 14 points and seven rebounds, the Red Warriors were able to extend the lead to as high as 17 points, 67-50, with 6:33 left in the game.
“Well Mark, he played really well and he made some big shots for us,” the veteran mentor said about his stretch forward. “He can play multiple positions and I hope he plays consistent for us.”
“Sumunod lang kami sa sistema ni manong at gawin lang yung dapat namin gawin para manalo,” Olayon added.
However, the Growling Tigers had one last rally left in them. After being rejected by the Red Warriors, a number of calls went in the favor of UST resulting to free throws for Regie Basibas and William Afoakwah that sliced the lead to 10, 69-59, with 1:43 left.
A high-arching floater by Olayon though with 56.5 ticks remaining ended any hope of a UST comeback.
“Masaya kasi sunod-sunod na,” the soft-spoken Davaoeno said.
Renz Palma stuffed the stat sheet for the Red Warriors as he tallied eight points, four rebounds, five assists, and five steals in the game.
For UST, Louie Vigil shot the ball with high efficiency, going 8-of-11 from the field for 21 points. However, he committed a horrid 10 turnovers in the game. Ghanan William Afoakwah tallied a double-double with 10 points and 21 rebounds.
The UE Red Warriors (2-6) look to extend their streak to three as they take on the FEU Tamaraws (5-2) on Sunday, October 16 at 2:00pm. The UST Growling Tigers (2-6) will face the same team on Wednesday, October 12.
The Scores:
UE (71) – Olayon 14, Pasaol 9, Charcos 9, Palma 8, Batiller 7, Bartolome 6, Manalang 4, De Leon 4, Varilla 4, Abanto 2, Derige 2, Gagate 2, Penuela 0
UST (61) – Vigil 21, Afoakwah 10, Faundo 10, Sheriff 5, Subudo 3, Basibas 3, Lao 2, Lee 2, De Guzman 2, Huang 2, Macasaet 1, Caunan 0
Quarterscores: 23-13, 41-27, 59-47, 71-61
