Tiger Cubs thwart Ateneo’s final four hopes behind Pangilinan’s 26-point blast
By Anton Villegas
The UST Tiger Cubs fend off the Ateneo Blue Eagles to bolster their Final Four campaign in the UAAP Season 85 boys basketball tournament with a 16-point beating, 94–78, Wednesday morning in the Filoil EcoOil Center in San Juan.
With the Tiger Cubs’ (5–6) possibility of entangling with La Salle and Ateneo in the standings who both share a 4–7 record, the University aimed to claim the solo fourth seed in today’s game.
UST maxed out the game of graduating JP Pangilinan, who scored 26 points with an efficient +/- of 26 to go along with six boards and three assists.
Ateneo’s Kristian Porter started out the game torturing the Tiger Cubs’ defense, scoring 17 points in the first half. But he was contained by UST’s second half adjustment inside the paint utilizing Charles Bucsit, limiting Porter to only eight points in the second half.
The game started out hot for the University as they executed a 9–1 run crediting James Jumao-as who started the game with two straight layups.
The Blue Eaglets answered back with their own 14–4 run with Porter tearing up the paint as well as from the outside as Ateneo ended the quarter with a six-point advantage, 18–24.
UST started to get their rhythm and scored 29 points in the second quarter, with Ateneo only putting up 12 points on the board. This caused the Tiger Cubs to bring the momentum at halftime with an 11-point lead, 47–36.
The second half was just a continuation of UST’s sizzling end to the first half as UST’s wingman Pangilinan scored 15 of his 26 points in the second half, draining six three-pointers in the game to assist Jumao-as in the scoring category who had his own 21-point output.
Execution was the name of the game as UST limited their turnovers to 20 as well as sharing the rock on the offensive end, accumulating a total of 26 assists in the ballgame.
The UST Tiger Cubs will play their next game on Saturday afternoon at the Paco Arena, facing last-placed UPIS to solidify their campaign for the last Final Four spot in the tournament.
The Scores:
UST (94)- Pangilinan 26, Jumao-as 21, Llemit 12, Bucsit 9, Zanoria 9, Esteban 7, Tesocan 3, Ayon 2, Manding 2, Buenaflor 2, Suico 1, Chan 0.
ADMU (78)- Porter 25, Nieto 19, Adevoso 17, Salandanan 7, Ebdane 5, De Guzman 2, Domangcas 2, Fidel 1, Urbina 0, Aguirre 0, Arada 0, Santiago 0, Delos Santos 0.Quarter Scores: 18–24, 47–36, 69–55, 94–78.
