WHAT has been University of Santo Tomas' Achilles heel in UAAP Season 88 showed up once more in the most inopportune time on Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.
READ: Erolon, Montebon, Torres show way in Adamson OT shocker over UST
Holding an 88-80 advantage with just 30 seconds of play left in regulation would’ve been a win - most of the time.
Even as Adamson threw counter-punches that ultimately became winning combinations in the end, the Growling Tigers had plenty of chances to ice the game and ride into the sunset with a supposed skid-busting win.
The Soaring Falcons’ desperation fouls in the last half-minute gave six chances for the black-and-gold to finish it off from the 15-foot stripe.
And in that final window, the ball of course fell into the hands of Nic Cabanero and Forthsky Padrigao.
The UST stalwart blanked in both of his attempts, while the flashy playmaker went one-of-four.
Those five misses accounted for half of their 10 faults from the free throw line in the extended contest, which they eventually ended losing by one point.
Free throw fright
As far as numbers go in their eight prior games this season, Padrigao, Cabanero and the Growling Tigers altogether have struggled in terms of charity shots.
UST has made and attempted the second-most free throws at 125-of-211, but its 59.2-percent success rate is league-worst. In fact, it's the only squad shooting below 60-percent from the foul line.
For comparison, Far Eastern University is the league-leader in free throw shooting at 69.3-percent, followed by the University of the Philippines at 66.5-percent.
Cabanero is at a 20-of-32 clip (62.5-percent), while Padrigao has been one of the team's best shooters from 15 feet away at 72-percent.
More pointedly, the guard has only missed seven free throws out of 25. In the endgame against Adamson alone, however, he missed four.
There won’t be enough time for UST to pin the blame on anyone or anything at this point, though, as the defending champion Fighting Maroons look to further dampen the Growling Tigers’ Final Four bid and make it five straight losses come Wednesday, Nov. 5 at Mall of Asia Arena.
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