UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas found a lifeline when it needed it most, turning to a familiar rival to snap its UAAP Season 89 second-round slump with a crucial 86-85 triumph over Far Eastern University on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Still winless in Round 2 entering the game, the Tigers finally growled back to life at the expense of the same Tamaraw side they had downed in the first round.
And when the critical contest tightened down the stretch, Amiel Acido delivered the goods, firing two clutch triples in the final two minutes and giving UST enough separation to fend off FEU.
Growling for gold
Acido topped the scoring column with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while Landyn Jumawan added 18 and Mark Llemit scored 16, more than enough to make up for a rare off night from Collins Akowe, who finished with just eight points.
More importantly, the win lifted the again-Growling Tigers to 5-6, tying them with Ateneo for fifth-place and keeping them well in the hunt for the postseason.
“For the past games, medyo nagsa-struggle po kami, pero tulad nga po ng sinasabi namin, it’s how we come back, kung paano kami bumabangon kahit gano kahirap ‘yung journey namin,” Acido said.
On the other hand, the loss halted a brief surge that had put the Tams back in the conversation for the top two. Though they fell to 6-5, they remain tied for third with defending champion La Salle.
FEU kept coming thanks to Jorick Bautista, who even buried a trey to trim the deficit to one. But it went in just as the final buzzer sounded, making his game-high 27 points all for naught.
Kirby Mongcopa and Cabs Cabonilas chipped in 14 points apiece, as the green-and-gold goes back to the drawing board with matches against the University of the Philippines, National U, and DLSU coming up.
The Scores:
UST 86 — Acido 23, Jumawan 18, Llemit 16, Canete 9, Akowe 8, Porter 4, Chio 3, Buenaflor 3, Sevilla 2, Bucsit 0, Esteban 0.
FEU 85 — Bautista 27, Mongcopa 14, Cabonilas 14, Konateh 9, Gish 9, Pasaol 6, Daa 5, Burgos 1, Nakai 0, Felipe 0.
Quarters: 19-24, 43-45, 69-63, 86-85.
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