Tigers plaster UP for 3rd straight

By Anthony Divinagracia Posted Sep 7th 2013

University of Santo Tomas (UST) staged warm-up of sorts for returning captain Jeric Teng on Saturday as the streaking Tigers ripped apart University of the Philippines (UP) to grab solo fourth place in the 76^th UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the MOA Arena.

Displaying its full offensive strength with Teng back in the fold, the Tigers punished the Maroons in the second half en route to a 63-39 blowout anchored on the workman-like efforts of Aljon Mariano, Kevin Ferrer, and Karim Abdul.

Mariano scattered 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Tigers, who are now at 7-5. Ferrer capped a quiet outing with 12 markers and nine boards while Teng, who just came back from a two-game absence due to a hamstring injury, and Ed Daquioag had nine points each.

“This game is also a warm-up for Jeric going for La Salle and Ateneo . Medyo mahaba rin inilaro niya,” UST coach Pido Jarencio said. “Hopefully makuha na niya timing niya sa mga susunod na laro namin.”

Abdul only had seven points but was a demon underneath, grabbing 21 rebounds plus four blocks to offset his eight turnovers.

“Malayo pa kami (sa Final Four). Magandang pang-kundisyon ito sa amin. Kailangan naking malaman kung paano kami tumapos ng maganda. Kailangan may diin. Kung pa-relax-relax kami, baka na-disgrasya pa kami kanina. Kailangan may finishing, may killer instinct,” Pido Jarencio added.

Leading by just three, 23-20, at the half, the Tigers slowly pulled away in the third behind Mariano and Teng, who conspired in a 6-1 blitz to go ahead, 36-28.

But Sam Marata nailed a triple in a 5-0 salvo to come within three before Teng answered with a trey of his own for a 39-33 tally going into the payoff period.

The Tigers then started brandishing Jarencio’s much-preached killer instinct as the Tigers went on a numbing 8-0 run fuelled by Teng, Mariano, and Daquioag to build their first double-digit advantage, 48-33, with 6:33 left.

UST completed its annihilation of UP with a 13-1 endgame salvo for the final count.

With Karim manning the paint and Raul Soyud in foul trouble, the Tigers out-rebounded the Maroons, 71-41 and netted more points in the shaded lane, 32-16. UST also killed UP off the breaks, 20-4.

Marata scored 12 points to emerge as the lone Maroon in double figures.

The scores:

UST 63 – Mariano 18, Ferrer 12, Teng 9, Daquioag 9, Abdul 7, Bautista 3, Pe 2, Faundo 2, Lao 1, Tan 0, Sheriff 0, Lo 0, Hainga 0.

UP 39 – Marata 12, Lao 6, Soyud 5, Ball 5, Wong 2, Suarez 2, Gallarza 2, Desiderio 2, Asilum 2, Harris 1, Pascual 0, Paras 0, Gingerich 0, Amar 0.

Quarter scores: 14-13, 23-20, 40-33, 63-39.