Karim Abdul of UST muscles his way to the post against UE defenders. (Vyn Radovan/FCF)
Games Thursday (July 21, 2011)
Araneta Coliseum
1:00pm – Ateneo vs. National
3:00pm – Far Eastern vs. East
| FINAL | ||||||||||||||||||
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| (2 – 0) | (0 – 2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 70 – 63 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| STATISTICAL LEADERS | ||||||||||||||||||
| POINTS | UST | Ferrer | 19 | |||||||||||||||
| UE | Zamar | 18 | ||||||||||||||||
| REBOUNDS | UST | Abdul | 9 | |||||||||||||||
| UE | Javier | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
| ASSISTS | UST | Fortuna | 8 | |||||||||||||||
| UE | Sumang | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
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Despite having a comfortable lead and just 10 minutes away from victory, University of Santo Tomas nearly let this one slip away.
An upstart UE platoon made waves in the fourth period, totally outscoring UST in the fourth period by a margin of 24-10, but time wasn’t enough for the Red Warriors as the Growling Tigers escaped with a 70-63 victory in the continuation of the 74th on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.
Rookie two-guard Kevin Ferrer poured in 19 points with 5 rebounds to lead all scorers. The veteran duo of Jeric Teng and Jeric Fortuna each has 13 and 12 points apiece.
With Fortuna and Ferrer blasting 15 of the team’s 25 in the third period, the Tigers were poised to easily take this game handily by a walk in the park. But quickly, this was not to be the case.
Paul Zamar, JM Noble and Roi Sumang quietly piled up 19 of the team’s 24 points during a long cold streak by the Tigers in the fourth period to keep within four. In fact, the only pair of field goals made by UST in the final quarter came from a left wing jumper from Kim Lo at the 9:07 mark and Jeric Fortuna’s trey with 3:04 left.
However, five made free throws off catchup fouls by UE saved the game from a total collapse, giving Pido Jarencio’s squad the much-needed second win.
Coach Jarencio gave high praises for his neophyte ward from the institution’s high school program, saying that he is a different kid who left his heart in UST. Comparing him to former two-guard Khasim Mirza, he said that Ferrer is a different beast all together and is more versatile than the former.
Zamar finished with 18, with Sumang adding 14 in a losing effort for the still-winless Red Warriors.
BOX SCORE
SANTO TOMAS (70): Ferrer 19, Teng 13, Fortuna 12, Abdul 10, Vigil 7, Camus 3, Afuang 3, Lo 2, Pe 1, Tan 0, Sheriff 0
EAST (63): Zamar 18, Sumang 14, Sumido 9, Noble 9, Javier 6, Santos 5, Duran 2, Zosa 0, Montelibano 0, Chavez 0, Enguio 0, Tagarda 0, Flores 0
Quarters: 11-8, 35-22, 60-39, 70-63
