UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas would not be denied of their second straight UAAP Season 89 victory, keeping University of the East down in the dumps following a 98-87 decision, Wednesday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Building on their momentum from downing La Salle, Mark Llemit headlined the Growling Tigers's back-to-back wins with 22 points, as Amiel Acido joined in on the fun from the bench.
UST broke away in the second quarter, doubling the Red Warriors' scoring output in what is now their fourth loss in as many games - the last two coming under interim head coach Paulo Hubalde.
“First of all, marunong din naman mag-basketball yung kalaban eh,” said head coach Pido Jarencio. “Zero-three, tapos new coach. Siyempre, ang players gusto rin magpakita nyan para sa bago nilang coach.”
“Yung second half momentum, nakuha nila. Kami naman, at least steady. In the end we got the win. Yan ang story ng game, as long as we got that W — one, two, three points, basta manalo, ok lang yan.”
UST do it
Five of Llemit’s points came in the final frame, where prized Nigerian big Collins Akowe also chipped in seven markers on his way to a double-double of 14 markers and 11 rebounds, alongside six blocks.
Albeit down by as much as 23 points at one point, UE benefitted from the Growling Tigers' sloppy execution, as the former forced 20 turnovers from the latter leading to 32 points.
Jarencio, though, isn’t sweating the season-high turnovers, as he expected rust from his squad after the two-week break due to the Asian Games.
“Part of the game yan. Kaya basta kami, maging consistent lang kami in the endgame, we get that W,” he added.
Acido backstopped Llemit with 16 points and five assists, thriving in tandem with Landyin Jumawan who had 13 markers of his own.
On the other end, Tope Lagat continued to star for UE with 22 points, while Mo Tanedo delivered 16 big points that fueled their late rally that wound up as their closest loss of the tournament thus far.
The Scores:
UST 98 – Llemit 22, Acido 16, Akowe 14, Junawan 13, Buenaflor 8, Chio 6, Cañete 5, Danting 4, Esteban 3, Manding 3, Porter 2, Bucsit 2, Alao 0, J. Sevilla 0.
UE 87 – Lagat 22, Tañedo 16, Cruz-Dumont 12, Carillo 10, Robles 7, Edoukou 4, Santos 4, Jimenez 4, Sabroso 3, Vazquez 3, Mascarinas 2, Dungca 0.
Quarters: 24-19, 52-33, 75-61, 98-87
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