AFTER 19 straight losses, University of Sto. Tomas clawed its way to victory in the UAAP men's basketball tournament with a 68-62 win over Far Eastern Univeristyat the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday.
The Tigers now have a 1-6 (win-loss) card in Season 86 while Round 1 ends for FEU (2-5) the same way it started — in defeat.
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Nic Cabañero had 23 points, six rebounds, and two assists.
“Natutuwa at na-ooverwhelm ako kasi ito ‘yung magbibigay sa’min ng confidence going to the next round. We’ll be happy today but we’re gonna work again tomorrow. Trabaho ulit and we’ll see what are adjustments will be to keep showing our pride and pusong palaban,” said Cabañero.
Christian Manaytay, who had a double-double of 10 points and 11 boards, bared the rush of emotions as the final buzzer sounded on a hard-earned first win this season.
“Actually naiiyak ako kasi ikaw ba naman walang panalo since last season. Nakaka-overwhelm kasi feeling ko ito ‘yung kailangan namin sa susunod na games at mag-uuplift talaga sa’min,” Manaytay said.
Cabañero nailed 11 of his 23 points in the third quarter, where the Tigers struggled to pull away from a surging Tamaraws side.
But despite their leading scorer held to just one point in the final frame, the Tigers went on a 12-2 run to keep FEU at bay and arrest the España side’s 19-game losing streak.
The scores:
UST (68) – Cabañero 23, Manaytay 10, Pangilinan 9, Crisostomo 8, Duremdes 7, Calum 7, Manalang 4, Llemit 0, Laure 0, Gesalem 0, Lazarte 0, Esmena 0.
FEU (62) – Gonzales 11, Torres 11, Bautista 11, Sleat 8, Tempra 7, Faty 7, Ona 5, Competente 2, Alforque 0, Bagunu 0, Montemayor 0, Buenaventura 0, Felipe 0.
Quarterscores: 22-17; 38-34; 55-50; 68-62.
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