Staying alive: DEFENDING CHAMPION U.S.T. ENTERS NEXT PHASE

By Ian Brion
Business Mirror
September 18, 2007



University of Santo Tomas (UST) bounced back from a slow start to demolish Far Eastern U (FEU), 80-69, and advance to the stepladder phase in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 70 men’s basketball tournament yesterday at the Araneta Coliseum.

It was the Tigers’ first victory over the Tamaraws this season, but one that mattered most as it kept the UST’s title-retention hopes alive.

“Buhay na naman kami!” beamed coach Pido Jarencio. “Alam mo naman kami, ’pag gipitan mas masarap manalo.”

The Tigers came into the match the underdogs, having lost twice to the Tamaraws—81-66 in the first round and 84-73 in the second—in the eliminations.

“Wala naman kaming masyadong ginawang adjustment at special [preparation for this game]. I just motivated my players, na sabi ko wala nang bukas ’pag natalo kami at ayaw ko pang magbakasyon,” added Jarencio, who piloted his alma mater to the crown in his rookie season last year.

UST will meet the loser in today’s match between archrivals Ateneo and La Salle in the first postseason series.

“Mahaba ang laban, basta kami kahit sino ang makaharap namin, ready kami. Basta tigre pagdating sa playoff lalong tumatapang.”

Jervy Cruz had another Most Valuable Player (MVP)-worthy performance, posting a double-double of 17 points—on five-of-11 shooting from the field and a perfect seven-of-seven from the stripe—and 14 rebounds to lead the Tigers, who only needed one big rally in the second period to expose the young Tamaraws’ immaturity and, eventually, halt the latter’s surprising rampage.

FEU converted six of its first 10 shots to take a 14-7 lead in the first five minutes before Cruz bullied his way inside to key a 14-5 run that put UST up, 21-19, two minutes into the second period.

Back-to-back baskets by John Ramos and Ric Cawaling enabled the Tamaraws to retake the driver’s seat, 23-21. But that proved to be their last stand of the game—and eventually of the season—as they could only manage to score two free throws for the rest of the first half.

In turn, the Tigers unleashed a ferocious 18-2 attack, to take a commanding 39-25 halftime lead that all but formalized their entry into the tournament’s next stage.

By that time, Cruz already had a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, and the España-based squad shot 43.8 percent from the field while limiting its foe to an atrocious 22.9-percent clip and a series of unforced errors.

UST led by as many as 24 points, 59-35, midway of the third period, and FEU could not get closer than nine the rest of the way.

Anthony Espiritu added 12 points, while Dylan Ababou and Kazim Mirza had 11 apiece for the Tigers, who won their seventh consecutive do-or-die match dating back to last season.

Sophomore slotman Riel Cervantes tallied 17 points and nine rebounds, before being thrown out of the playing court with only 44.6 seconds left in game for committing his second unsportsmanlike foul, to lead the Tamaraws, who failed to get past the eliminations for the second straight year.

Marnel Baracael added 15 points for the Morayta dribblers, who nevertheless could call their campaign a success, especially with the team just coming off a rebuilding program and exceeded expectations by winning eight of their 14 games in the eliminations, including victories over the likes of powerhouse Ateneo and UST.



Archrivals determine who goes No. 2, No. 3
By Reuben Terrado

Who would have thought this will happen?

Ateneo and La Salle go up against one another a third time this season as they seek a twice-to-beat advantage in the stepladder phase today in the 70th University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum.

Game time is set at 3 p.m. in front of an expected standing-room-only crowd at the Big Dome.

The playoff matchup of the archrivals was deemed improbable considering the circumstances that both teams were up against prior to their game.

Ateneo could have enjoyed the twice-to-beat advantage outright with a victory in their final game of the eliminations, but the Blue Eagles were upset by also-ran National U, 96-88, in overtime last Saturday.

The Eagles, who fell to 9-5 and in a tie with La Salle, were on a five-game winning streak prior to that game against NU.

“Defensively, we didn’t play well. We didn’t shoot the ball well,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black, recalling their game against NU.

Black mentioned that “it was time to move forward from that loss” against the Bulldogs and focus on what is ahead.

“The idea is just to win,” said Black. “It does not matter what happened in the past. We just want to get the twice-to-beat advantage.”

La Salle will get another opportunity to nab the twice-to-beat. After being in second place for most of the elimination round, the Green Archers lost back-to-back overtime games to Ateneo (89-87) and University of the East (92-84) to drop to 9-5.

“We just have to play well the whole 40 minutes,” said La Salle coach Franz Pumaren. “We were a bit inconsistent the past few games, so we hope to just play well the whole game.”

Pumaren said that the team intends to take advantage of being given another opportunity of getting the twice-to-beat edge in the stepladder phase.