OF course, University of Santo Tomas knows the bottom of the nets of the Quadricentennial Pavilion pretty well.
That was very much evident on Saturday, as the Growling Tigers went offense is the best defense to stand their ground at home against University of the East.
The highest single-game scoring output of 111 - with the Red Warriors' 99 not that far behind - thus far in UAAP Season 88 swung the home team's way despite trailing by nine in the earlygoing.
Nic Cabañero waxed hot for the second time in a row for 22 points, as Forthsky Padrigao finally got going with 18 markers, all but three from deep, and Collins Akowe returned to form with an 18-point, 17-rebound double-double.
Mark Llemit and Ivanne Calum also added 11 markers apiece, as the black-and-gold counted five players in double-digits. In all, they made 50.7-percent of their field goals, including a 14-of-32 clip from beyond the arc.
Cabañero, though, made it clear that their offense in fifth gear didn't matter - all that did was the bounce back win that hiked their record to 3-1.
“Motivation lang talaga namin yung past game nga namin sa NU na gustong-gusto naming bumawi,” he said, referring to their first setback last Wednesday.
“‘Yung bawi namin is hindi gigil, but with respect lang din.”
Defending the den of the Growling Tigers
UST has had the rare luxury of playing three of its first four games at its very own QPav.
There, they won two of three over the University of the Philippines and UE, with the aforementioned defeat at the hands of the Bulldogs sandwiched in between.
While playing at home may seem a tad too favorable for some, Cabañero couldn’t care less if naysayers were to paint a negative picture on their homestand to start the season.
As he put it, “Manalo or matalo man kami, people will say something eh. If they will say that we have an advantage, then so be it, ‘di ba.”
“We’re just playing basketball, 50-50 balls lagi. Bilog ‘yung bola, so whoever wins, eh 'di ‘yun panalo.”
If it was to go España newcomer Akowe’s way, even if UAAP games were to be played miles away from their home turf, what matters is he gets to hoop. That’s it.
“Basically, we just have to play basketball, no matter the venue or wherever it is, it’s just basketball,” he said.
“I don’t care if it’s Araneta or wherever, I’m just gonna play basketball.”
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