BY Gwen Bergado
UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas just has a penchant for making sure there will be no sweeps, no matter what UAAP event it is.
In the Season 87 boys' basketball tournament, the Tiger Cubs pulled off a shocking and dominating 76-56 triumph over erstwhile undefeated NU-Nazareth School, Thursday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
The loss was the Bullpups' first in 14 games, denying them of an outright berth in the finals and ensuring a traditional Final Four will take place.
Two years back, Eya Laure and the UST Golden Tigresses also gave then-unbeaten La Salle its first taste of defeat, with 'The Sleya' famously being caught on camera yelling "No sweep!" while wagging her index finger.
Back to present day and the black-and-gold had two players turning in double-doubles in Senegalese big Racine Kane who had 18 points and 16 boards and co-captain Koji Buenaflor who produced 14 markers and 12 rebounds.
“Pinagtrabahuhan ng boys. Nakita niyo naman yung effort ng players, talagang we deserve to win this game,” head tactician Manu Iñigo expressed, as they ended eliminations at 12-2, while also avenging their season-opening loss to NUNS.
“Job’s not done,” he added, however, as the twice-to-beat Tiger Cubs now turn their attention to yet again exacting revenge, this time on third-seed FEU-Diliman, which beat them in the second round.
UST's cutthroat defense limited the Bullpups to just 16 points in the second half, allowing the Tiger Cubs to mount a lead as big as 23, 74-51.
Best Foreign Student-Athlete frontrunner Collins Akowe was curiously benched after halftime, handicapping any grand plans of a comeback by NUNS. He wound up with eight points on top of 18 rebounds.
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Mac Alfanta then churned out 11 points and five boards, as Migs Palanca also added 10 markers and nine rebounds for the Bullpups, who still have a twice-to-beat advantage for its semifinals face-off with defending champion Adamson.
Jr. Achers shoot down playoff-bound Baby Tamaraws
After falling short of a semis seat yet again, De La Salle Zobel had no other hopes than to end its journey in high spirits - and it did, thanks to a 71-61 triumph over FEU-Diliman.
“That’s the game plan today. We just wanted to end with a bang,” shared Jr. Archers head coach Boris Aldeguer.
Bonn Daja paced the green-and-white with 20 points with seven boards and Maco Dabao provided 18 markers and six rebounds.
Kieffer Alas put on a show of his own after a double-double performance of 16 points and 14 rebounds to give DLSZ a bittersweet 6-8 ending to its season.
Mico Pascual was the lone bright spot for the Baby Tamaraws with 15 markers laced with seven rebounds.
The Scores
Third Game
UST 76— Kane 18, Buenaflor 14, Ludovice 13, Canete 10, Bucsit 8, Esteban 6, Cinco 3, Solon 2, Vidanes 2, Bandingan 0, Acido 0, Javier 0, Bohol 0
NUNS 56— Alfanta 11, Palanca 10, Akowe 8, Solomon 5, Cartel 5, Natinga 5, Locsin 4, Napa 4, Lucido 2, Figueroa 2, Pillado 0, Isop 0, Matias 0, Nepacena 0
Quarters: 19-13, 33-29, 55-43, 76-56
Fourth Game
DLSZ 71— Daja 20, Dabao 18, Alas 16, Espinosa 11, Lopez 4, Tailan 2, Borrero 0, Arejola 0, Atienza 0, Favis 0, Gubat 0, Reguera 0
FEU-DILIMAN 61— Pascual 15, Cabonilas 9, Godoy 8, Burgos 8, Esperanza 7, Maierhofer 6, Salangsang 2, Hall 2, Raneses 2, De Guzman 2, Gemao 0, Santos 0, Castillejos 0
Quarters: 12-19, 27-30, 51-47, 71-61
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