Tigresses beat Lady Falcons in overtime

By Donjie Carreon Posted Jul 28th 2013

The University of Sto. Tomas Tigresses finally won a tight one as they defeated the Adamson University, 81-80, in overtime on Sunday at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan to get their third win in the Season 75 UAAP women’s basketball tournament.

In overtime, UST looked ready to take control as they built a 77-72 advantage after Jeannine Ong sandwiched a three-pointer between a Lore Rivera putback and a transition lay-up. But Angel Quingco hit two lay-ups to keep the Falcons close. The Lady Falcons made one more basket, while UST hit four of its last six free throws for the final score.

With two seconds left, Rivera grabbed her last rebound off Kim Reyes’s miss denying Adamson one final attempt at the win. Maica Cortes was again a force in the middle for UST tallying 14 points and 19 boards, which helped the Tigresses outrebound the Lady Falcons 65-56. UST also got 16 points from Reyes and 12 from Ong.

The Tigresses had a 67-63 lead in regulation after Cortes’ baseline jumper, but could not prevent Quingco and Janille de Castro from converting successive lay-ups to tie the game. Rivera had a chance to win the game for UST, but she missed on her runner.

Rivera hustled her way to 19 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks as she repeatedly streaked down the court to get easy lay-ups and relentlessly battled for boards for putbacks despite her slight frame.

UST coach Chris Cantonjos praised Rivera for her energy, and believed the stringy forward can put up those numbers if she consistently sticks to her role.

“Yung energy naman niya on offense at defense nandiyan lagi. Nakakalimutan niya lang kasi minsan ang role niya na tumakbo ng tumakbo kasi that’s her strength. Kapag ginagawa niya yun nakakakuha kami ng maraming fastbreak opportunities at putback attempts,” he said.

Adamson was led by Jinky Balasta with 20 points while Analie Tiongco and Quingco added 13 and 12 respectively.

The game was tight throughout with 13 deadlocks and 23 lead changes, but it wasn’t pretty. Both teams struggled with each other’s pressure defense with UST coughing it up 28 times to Adamson’s 23.  The Lady Falcons also had a tough time scoring as they made less than a third of their shots,  but UST was almost as bad making just 37% of their attempts.

Cantonjos admitted there’s still a lot to improve with his team’s play.

“Marami kaming lapses sa press… At least nakikita na naming ngayon para alam naming improve next round," he said.

The win improved UST’s record to 3-3 in a tie with Adamson.

In an earlier game, the University of the Philippines defeated the Ateneo de Manila University, 56-46.

State U improved to 2 - 4 while Ateneo remained winless after six outings.

The Scores:

UST 81 - Rivera 19, Cortes 17, Reyes 16, Ong 12, Mejia 6, Salavador 4, Andrade 3, Magdalyo 2, Angeles 2, Mandilag 0, Felisarta 0.

Adamson 80 - Balasta 20, Tongco 13, Quingco 12, De Castro 9, Cochico 9, Ido 6, Garrido 6, Bilbao 2, Avila 2, Mateo 1, Taller 0, Ong 0, Lozano 0, Amper 0.

Quarter Scores: 14-11, 30-27, 49-48, 67-67, 81-80

UP 56 - Salapong 14, Wong 12, Luna 12, Daez 8, Furagganan 4, Topacio 2, Tatel 2, Pioquinto 2, Isip 0.

ADMU 46 - Nunez 14, Jose 9, Uy De Ong 6, Deacon 4, Veloso 2, Posadas 2, Limcaco 2, Buendia 2, Bo-ot 2, Belarmino 2, Javier 0.

Quarter Scores: 18-8, 31-20, 39-31, 56-46