BETHUNE ‘Siot’ Tanquingcen turned sentimental when the PBA's first-ever official game in the University of Santo Tomas campus brought him back to his beloved alma mater.
The now NLEX deputy coach was left both awed and envious seeing the Growling Tigers now have a lovely gym good enough for Asia’s first ever play-for-pay league to hold its Philippine Cup doubleheader there on Sunday.
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That the Road Warriors notched a crucial 92-83 win over Titan Ultra for a share of the lead with Rain or Shine came as a bonus.
“It’s a blessing to be able to come back here and play. Actually not to play, but to coach,” said Tanquingcen, admitting he was blown away seeing the UST Quadricentennial Pavillion and other major changes around the Pontifical school more than three decades since he last wore the gold and white jersey.
“I’m happy for the players ngayon. Ang ganda. Sayang nga hindi namin naabutan ito,” added the 53-year-old coach, who first had a glimpse of the facility during his stint as assistant coach of National University in the UAAP.
Tanquingcen goes down in UST lore as the point guard of the legendary 1993 team of the late coach Aric Del Rosario, which completed a 14-game sweep of Season 56 to end a 29-year title drought.
Aside from Tanquingcen, that same Tigers unit also had the likes of Dennis Espino, Patrick Fran, Rey Evangelista, Rudolf Belmonte, Bal David, and Chris Cantonjos, all of who went on and played in the PBA.
The alumnus turned emotional recalling that the location of the Quadricentennial Pavilion was where the College of Engineering open gym once stood. That was where he used to play during the UST Intramurals.
“Itong building (Pavilion) semento pa ito noon. Open court pa ito,” he said. “Nung hindi pa ako varsity, naglaro ako ng Intrams so dito kami naglalaro when I represented the College of Commerce.”
When he finally got to join the Growling Tigers, the team used to practice at the old iconic gym located near the P. Noval St. gate - the same facility built in 1933 but was finally demolished in 2011 to give way for the new gymnasium in time for the 400th year celebration of the school.
“Hindi ko na nga alam kung ano na ang nandun (sa old gym),” he added. “Pero maganda yung facility. May gym, may weights room, may dance studio pa. I mean to have this and hold PBA games, ang layo na ng narating.”
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