THE team that’s tougher in the endgame will win the 78th University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball crown.
University of Santo Tomas coach Bong dela Cruz said this after the Growling Tigers took Game 2 with a 62-56 beating of the Far Eastern University Tamaraws and equalized their best-of-three finals series last Saturday.
“Game 3 will be very physical. Hindi madali. Ang basketball ring, sisikip. Mental toughness ang magse-save sa team,” said Dela Cruz.
Gametime is at 3:30 p.m. today at the Mall of Asia Arena.
When the Growling Tigers took Game 2, they were able to hold down prolific Tamaraw Mike Tolomia, who failed to score on his 15 attempts.
But, this time around, Dela Cruz believes that Tolomia, one of the Tams’ three prolific shooters with 12.4 points per game, will be harder to stop.
“Hindi na siya mali-limit. Basta sa amin, depensahan lang nang mabuti. We will just stay on the ground and challenge his shots. At kung ano ang outcome ng tira niya, that’s it,” said Dela Cruz.
While hotshot Kevin Ferrer was able to outscore the Tamaraws in the third period, where he shot 24 of his career-high 29 points, including six straight three-pointers, the Growling Tigers will also need to limit their turnovers.
The last time around, UST only had seven turnovers, while FEU gave up the ball up 16 times, leading to 14 turnover points for the Growling Tigers.
“Everybody as a group has to defend, kailangan namin gawin ito,” said Dela Cruz.
This is the fifth time that UST got involved in a deciding Game 3 encounter with an opponent, winning three of them.
FEU has only played in a Game 3 situation for a second time, the first when it bowed to the National University Bulldogs.
Despite their lack of experience in such a situation, coach Nash Racela has faith in the Tamaraws, believing that the team has what it takes to be able to bounce back from their loss.
“There’s a lot of frustration from the players (on the loss). But, I ‘m confident they will come back,” said Racela.
He noted that FEU was held to its lowest output in four years at 56, but Racela said the excitement of the series probably got into the players.
“It’s either anxiety or excitement. I’m confident that they will settle down in a do-or-die game,” said Racela.
The Tams shot poorly in Game 2 with a 27.12 percent, while UST was better with 29.69.
“This is not a concern. These players are veterans. They will bounce back next time,” added Racela.
Racela also noted that Ferrer, UST’s graduating forward, surprised them by scoring 24 of his 29 points in the third quarter.
Games Today
(Mall of Asia Arena)
10 a.m. Ateneo vs NU (women’s Game 1)
3:30 p.m. FEU vs UST
(men Game 3)