UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas needed something big to prove it belongs with UAAP Season 88 defending champion University of the Philippines.
Big is exactly what they got in Collins Akowe who overwhelmed whoever the Fighting Maroons put in front of him to power the Growling Tigers to a convincing 87-67 victory at home inside the UST Quadricentennial Pavillion, Sunday.
Akowe, the onetime MVP and first-ever Best Foreign Student-Athlete in the juniors, delivered the goods right away for his new squad in front of his new schoolmates by pounding in a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double - just in the first half.
It was his inside basket right through Gani Stevens that capped off UST's 16-4 blitz right out the gates, as Kyle Paranada and Gelo Crisostomo then joined in on the fun in to increase their lead to 45-22 at the seven-minute mark of the second quarter.
Collins the cavalry
The Nigerian dynamo went back to work in the second half, dominating all of Francis Nnoruka, Sean Alter, and Migs Palanca en route to a 29-point, 17-rebound introduction to the seniors level in efficient 9-of-15 shooting from the field.
"Playing against UP, the defending champion, I just wanted to see what I had," he said in the post-game interview.
With Akowe's dominant debut and Paranada's 18-point output, the Growling Tigers didn't even seem to miss court general Forthsky Padrigao, serving a one-game suspension, as well as a quiet outing from captain Nic Cabanero who had nine markers and five rebounds.
"Naniniwala talaga ako sa teammates ko na kayang-kaya naming talunin ang UP. Kino-commend ko teammates at coaches namin kasi teamwork talaga ginawa namin," said Cabanero, as they also held State U below 20 points for three quarters.
With that, the home team celebrated its first triumph over UP since Game 2 of the two teams' Final Four meeting in Season 82 in 2019.
The Fighting Maroons, on the other hand, saw their title defense get off to a rocky start, as they wound up shooting just 37.5-percent from the field, while also being outrebounded, 39-52.
Mark Belmonte topped the scoring column for them with 12 points, as Harold Alarcon and Jacob Bayla also added 11 markers apiece.
The Scores:
UST 87 - Akowe 29, Paranada 18, Cabanero 9, Crisostomo 8, Buenaflor 7, Calum 4, Llemit 3, Estacio 3, Acido 2, Laure 2, Sevilla 2, Bangco 0, Manding 0, Bucsit 0, Danting 0
UP 67 - Belmonte 12, Alarcon 11, Bayla 11, Torres 6, Nnoruka 6, Remogat 5, Fortea 4, Felicilda 4, Abadiano 2, Alter 2, Palanca 2, Briones 2, Stevens 0
Quarters: 31-19, 57-43, 70-57, 87-67
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