Karim Abdul of UST powers himself to the basket against Alinko Mbah of UP. (Ralph Samson/FCF)
Games Thursday (August 18, 2011)
Araneta Coliseum
1:00pm – Far Eastern vs. State U
3:00pm – Adamson vs. National
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| 70 – 77 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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University of Santo Tomas bounced back from a close finish in their last contest and once again emerged victorious in their second round battle against University of the Philippines, 77-70, in the continuation of the 74th University Athletic Association men’s basketball wars at the Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.
“He’s improving every game.” Jarencio said of Cameroonian Center Karim Abdul, who led the scoring for the Tigers with 21 points and 11 rebounds. “He’s improving offensively and defensively.”
“On course naman kami. We stick to our system. We live and die by our system.” UST Coach Pido Jarencio stressed. “I told the boys to say within the circle. Parang yung bracelet ko. Pag may matanggal, mawawala.”
Captain Jeric Fortuna contributed 15 points making 60% of his 3-point attempts. Jeric Teng put up 13 points while Kevin Ferrer and Melo Afuang combined for 16 points.
For the Maroons, Mike Silungan redeemed himself from his dismal shooting in the previous game with 19 points.
Mike Gamboa, who shot an impressive 6 out of 11 from the three-point line, had 18 points, while Paolo Romero had 11 points.
Jarencio also praised the effort of the Maroons. “Ganda ng game ng UP… Gamboa was killing us. Kaya binigyan namin ng special attention towards the end. But of course si Silungan pa rin yung first option nila.”
Santo Tomas led by as much as 16 points at the four minute mark of the 3rd quarter. However, a 12-0 spurt led by Gamboa cut the lead down to only four.
In the last two minutes of the game, UP managed to catch up to UST, behind only by four points at 71-67. However, consecutive scoring by Fortuna and Teng gave UST the lift that they needed, sealing their fourth win.
UST is now in a three-way tie for third place with the idle Far Eastern University Tamaraws and the De La Salle Green Archers, each netting in identical 4-4 records.
Since their surprise defeat of FEU more than a week ago, the Maroons have lost three consecutive matches to slide down to 2-6.
BOX SCORES
SANTO TOMAS (77): Abdul 21, Fortuna 15, Teng 13, Ferrer 8, Afuang 8, Lo 4, Camus 4, Sheriff 2, Pe 2, Vigil 0, Tan 0
STATE U (70): Silungan 19, Gamboa 18, Romero 11, Manuel 6, Maniego 5, Montecastro 3, Wong 2, Wierzba 2, Mbah 2, Gingerich 2, Fortu 0, Pascual 0, Juruena 0, Gomez 0
Quarters: 22-18, 38-33, 58-52, 77-70
