THE young guns of University of Santo Tomas (UST) preyed on the celebrated University of the Philippines side for a lopsided 86-72 victory in Season 81 University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball action on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Rookie CJ Cansino scored 16 points on a near-perfect 5-of-6 shooting from the field. He grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out seven assists to lead the Growling Tigers to their second straight victory and third win in seven games.
Renzo Subido also added 13 points and six assists, while Ken Zamora chipped in 12 points, all from the three-point line, for UST.
“Everybody came out to play today. Almost all of my players, they played well. We executed our game play,” Growling Tigers Head Coach Aldin Ayo said.
“They were more relaxed. They were just playing basketball and having fun. I think that was the difference compared to our previous games,” he added.
The victory was a morale-booster for the Tigers, whose Cameroonian center Steve Akomo was confined to the hospital because of blood in his brain.
Subido led a furious first-quarter onslaught by firing seven of the UST’s 31 points.
The gap widened to 54-29 as the young Tigers continued to find their mark before the break.
The Growling Tigers erected their biggest lead, 71-41, behind a 9-0 run sparked by Cansino’s two triples with 3:30 left in the third quarter.
It was game over for the Fighting Maroons at that point.
Bright Akhuetie led UP with his usual double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. Coming off the bench, Javi Gomez de Llano registered 12 points and three boards.
Juan Gomez de Llano, one of UP’s main weapons, only tallied nine points on a 4-of-10 clip.
Free throw shooting was again a problem for UP as the Maroons failed to breach the .500 mark with a 5-of-12 performance.
UP fell to 3-4 at the end of the first round of eliminations.
Image credits: Alysa Salen