FROM eight teams, only four remain standing; UST Growling Tigers take part in the Elite Final Four of the PCCL after obliterating the Falcons with an enormous 24-point lead, 88-64, last November 19 at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

     Aljon Mariano steered the Tigers with a game-high of 20 points which included the 10-2 run, bringing them in front by eight points in the third. Together with Jeric Teng and Kevin Ferrer, they were able to penetrate and set the Falcon defense crumbling. They were able to get 15 and 12 markers, respectively.

     UST had set the the tone in the first period, as Teng, Fortuna, and Lo rained deadly treys to give them a head start, which also forced Adamson to call an early timeout.

     In the latter part of the second period, an unfortunate Rodney Brondial accidentally stumbled in the UST bench in his attempt to save the loose ball with 3:17 left. He was immediately given medical attention; luckily he was able to play in the second half.

     With Adamson’s low field goal percentage with 29 percent, UST took the opportunity to continue its shooting streak averaging to 44.8 percent in the field. UST led for as much as six points by the end of the first half with 34-28.

     As the third period began, Aljon Mariano heated up the game with a 12-point explosion against the Falcons. Guns fell silent for boys in blue as they were overscored by the golden boys of España with 24-17 in the third. The Falcons have cut the lead to as close as two points, however by the end of the third, UST widened the gap with 58-45.

     The Falcon’s Eric Camson shouldered the bulk of his team, due to the early ejection of key player Jericho Cruz who was fouled out late in the first half. Camson amassed 17 points with 7 rebounds in the end game.
 
     Come by the seven minute mark in the fourth, Clark Bautista finally made his first field goal of the game with a dagger three-pointer in the corner. However, Bautista’s guns were not yet finished and he unleashed two more treys from beyond the arc, followed by Teng with a trey of his own, which dealt heavy damage to the Falcons.

     With 1:43 left in the game clock, Coach Jarencio let the bench players take the spotlight. The crowd was just driven wild by the intensity of the game played by UST’s Hainga, Vigil, Villar, and Daquioag, who all showed no mercy. They delivered eight consecutive points as final blow against the Falcons.

     Filled with confidence, Coach Jarencio elaborated two factors of their victory against Adamson University: ‘good defense’ and ‘good offense’ which resulted to a good performance of the team.

Tigers’ scores: Mariano 20, Teng 15, Ferrer 12, Fortuna 11, Bautista 9, Abdul 5, Lo 5, Daquioag 3, Vigil 2, Villar 2, Hainga 2, Afuang 2, Pe 0, Garrido 0
Falcons’ scores: Camson 17, Cabrera 16, Cruz 10, Abrigo 7, Monteclaro 5, Brondial 4, Agustin 2, Julkipli 2, Cabigas 1, Mendoza 0, Trollano 0, Petilos 0, Rios 0, Bernabe 0
Quarter scores: 16-10, 34-28, 58-45, 88-64

By Josiah Darren G. Saynes