University of Santo Tomas (UST) leaves the struggling De La Salle University (DLSU) with a 77-61 beating in their first outing for the 78th Season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), Wednesday September 30, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

The Taft-based squad looked to take over the match early, gathering a 14-point lead with 8 minutes remaining in the second quarter. But the lead didn’t last long as UST ended the half just two points behind, 31-33.

UST opened the third quarter with a three-pointer from Janus Suarez, who made 9 points in 3-of-3 outside shooting, grabbing the lead at the 9:20 mark. The Growling Tigers never looked back courtesy of 11 unanswered threes by Suarez, Mario Bonleon, Kevin Ferrer, Ed Daquioad, and Louie Vigil.

Despite being sidelined for half of the second quarter and the whole third quarter due to foul trouble, Ferrer still lead the Growling Tigers attack gathering 17 points, with 12 coming from the fourth period. Jeron Teng and Joshua Torralba lead the Green Archers short effort with 13 and 12 points apiece.

UST is now tied with Far Eastern University at the top with a 5-1 win-loss card, while DLSU is tied with National University for fourth with 3-3.

Here are the photos of the game courtesy of FCF’s chief photographer Martin San Diego:

Janus Suarez fueled UST’s comeback with 3-of-3 outside shooting. Martin San Diego | FCF

Early foul trouble for Kevin Ferrer meant Coach Bong Dela Cruz needed to make other players work harder

The struggling Green Archers drop to 3-3, tied with National University

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