UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas faithful had a message for their Growling Tigers after they finally got back on the winning track.
“Buhay pa tayo!”
Those chants echoed along with its iconic cheer once UST escaped Far Eastern University last Sunday, snapping a three-game losing slide and keeping its Final Four hopes flickering in UAAP Season 89.
READ: Acido injects new life into UST playoff push by shooting down FEU
Most definitely, the support meant just as much as the much-needed victory. Even as the Growling Tigers struggled to find their footing in their past three outings, Tomasinos remained behind them.
“Siyempre, 'pag nakikita ko yung UST community na sumusuporta sa amin, sobrang nakaka-good feeling. Kumbaga, yung confidence namin, unti-unting napapabalik,” Amiel Acido told SPIN.ph after finishing with 23 points, three rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
Indeed, the cheers are much more than just background noise for the black-and-gold.
"Go USTe!" and many more provide an inevitable energy boost to players, whether on the floor on on the bench.
“Every time naririnig ko yung chants, talagang biglang yung energy level namin, sobrang taas na tapos sobrang focused na namin. I think, parang one page na lang kami kung gumalaw,” he added.
Even more, that continued support became particularly important after UST endured a difficult stretch, with Acido admitting the atmosphere in their first few practices following their third straight defeat was far from ideal.
“Nung una, medyo mabigat pa and masakit para sa bawat isa. Siyempre, yung mga unang practices namin, medyo naging mahirap,” he said, looking back at their successive defeats to the University of the Philippines, La Salle, and National U.
“So we really had to find that spark ulit para maibalik namin yung confidence namin. I think nahanap naman na namin yun during this game.”
Go, go, go USTe
With three games still separating them from the end of the elimination round, the Growling Tigers know full well they cannot afford to lose sight of what's at stake.
Even more so now they have just given the UST community a new hope.
“Yung mantra namin na 'Puso. Pride. Palaban.' yun na rin yung sukli namin para sa mga sumusuporta. Talagang ilalaban namin yung naglalaro kami for the name of the school, hindi lang para sa sarili namin,” he said.
“Siyempre, naglalaro kami para sa UST community. Yun yung mga bagay na kailangan naming tandaan 'pag naglalaro.”
As the Growling Tigers faithful continue to make their voices heard, Acido hopes they will keep doing so in their last three eliminations assignments against Ateneo, UE, and Adamson - and even more hopefully, onward to the postseason.
“Sabi nga ng coaches, we have to take this one game at a time. Hindi kami pwedeng mag-settle sa panalo na ’to. Sana kasama pa rin namin ang UST community,” he said.
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