Rhenz Abando, Beninese slotman Soulemane Chabit Yo and his teammates kept the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers championship aspirations alive.
The 21-year-old Abando unloaded 17 points for the Growling Tigers as they subdued the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, 89-69, yesterday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Their efforts along with Mark Nonoy, Sherwin Concepcion and CJ Cansino allowed the Growling Tigers to extend their stepladder semifinals clash with the twice-to-beat Fighting Maroons to a rubber match on Wednesday in the 82nd University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament.
Their composure and pressing defense kept the Maroons in check after the Growling Tigers built a 17-point lead at halftime, weathered UP’s repeated comebacks in the fourth period.
“It’s all about execution. Execution on both defense and offense. We executed our game plan. Lahat ng instructions, sinagot ng mga players ko. We were connected out there. Execution,” said UST coach Aldin Ayo.
This may be a continuation of the UST’s best performance in 2015, the year that the Tigers took their 18th crown.
That year, the Growling Tigers beat the National Bulldogs, 64-55, in the Final Four to reach the finals.
Since the start of the season, the Growling Tigers have beaten the Maroons thrice, first claiming an 85-69 verdict in the first round, and then posting an 84-78 triumph in the next round.
The Fighting Maroons, who have a twice-to-beat incentive as the second seeded team, will have a chance to redeem themselves in a knockout match on Wednesday.
Nonoy fired 16 points, with his one of two triples in the last 2:38 finding their mark.
Nonoy’s trey and that of Concepcion’s hit their target right after UP managed to trim UST’s edge down to nine.
His last of two three-pointers gave UST a 20-point spread, their biggest in the game, 85-65, and with 52 ticks to go.
Concepcion contributed 12 points off his four triples while Cansino had 11.
Javi Gomez de Liano topscored with 20 points for UP, who was forced to 22 turnovers all throughout.
The Growling Tigers outscored the Fighting Maroons in the first two periods.
The 6’2” Abando unloaded 12 points in the first half while Cansino had nine, including two charities which shattered a 7-all deadlock.
From there, UST moved away on an 11-0 blast and took control with a 19-13 lead.
Subido shot five points in the first 20 minutes of action while Ando chipped in four, with his basket in the start of the second period triggering a 7-2 blast.
When it was over, UST was in front by 14 points, 27-15, with 5:26 left.
Chabi Yo scored only four points in the last period of the first half for UST, which got two triples from Abando in the remaining 2:15 of the half to put UST up by their biggest lead, 38-20, in the remaining 2:15.