What seemed to be a losing cause turned out to be one of the Growling Tigers’ BEST GAMES in season 74 of the UAAP. 😀
On Saturday, UST overcame a 17-point deficit to win convincingly over the Adamson Falcons, 74-58, to keep their Final Four hopes alive.
An Alex Nuyles triple jumpstarted the Falcons’ offensive early in the 1st quarter, leaving the Tigers scoreless in the first few minutes of the game. Even the entry of Karim Abdul did not do much to reduce the ballooning Adamson lead. The Tigers could not get their offense going, while the Falcons were simply perfect. I was even thinking, anubeh, repeat na ba to ng round 1??
Karim, Chris Camus and Paolo Pe had to share the task of controlling the Adamson big men (like Brondial and Camson), because Melo Afuang will be out of the Tigers’ rotation for 3 weeks while he recovers after being operated on for gallstones. Sad development in the Tigers’ campaign…
Also adding to Coach Pido Jarencio’s headaches is Chris going into foul trouble before the 1st half ended. But being the gritty Tiger that he is, he just kept on with his game and never let up with his defense. (I screamed myself hoarse for the man, but deep inside, I was dreading the 4th foul :D)
Another revelation was Kim Lo, who was doing everything on the floor: shooting, rebounding, defending, even managing a couple of steals. Talk about stepping up!
After being down 27-42 at halftime, the Tigers finally woke up during the 3rd quarter, led by the untiring Camus-Lo duo. Then it was the “Jeric x 2” time as Jeric Teng and Jeric Fortuna both found their shots, and the UST crowd goes wild! Finally! Four minutes left in the 3rd, Captain Fortuna drills in a triple that tied the ballgame at 45-all. Winner yung shot, pero mas winner yung ganda nung smile ni JFort after nung tira. Haha. 😀
As far as I remember, Adamson had only 3 field goals in the entire second half, and the rest of their points are all from free throws. Even the seemingly indefatigable Alex Nuyles could not buy a basket, while 4 of the Tigers ended in double figures, Karim and Chris had double-double performances. 😉 Although Kim and Kevin did not get their double digit scores, you cannot discount their contributions to the team. Kevin worked really hard, especially on defense; the taller men he guarded could not get the ball. Kala ko nga medyo dehado pa sya kasi payatolla sya ng konti, hindi naman pala. 😀 All around great performance from everyone in the team!
BEST. DAY. EVER.
The scores:
UST (74) – Jeric Teng 20, Karim Abdul 15, Jeric Fortuna 15, Chris Camus 13, Kim Lo 6, Kevin Ferrer 5, Robin Tan 0, Jamil Sheriff 0, Kent Lao 0, Paolo Pe 0, Aljohn Ungria 0.
Adamson (58) – Nuyles 14, Brondial 9, Camson 8, Etrone 6, Lozada 6, Alvarez 6, Cabrera 5, Colina 4, Petilos 0, Manuel 0, Manyara 0, Canada 0.
In addition to the scores, I must share the below stats:
Jeric Teng: 20 pts, 8 rebs, 6 assts >> 19 points made in the 2nd half 😀
Jeric Fortuna: 15 pts, 5 assts
Karim Abdul: 15 pts, 14 rebs >> 5th double-double in the last 6 games
Chris Camus: 13 pts, 11 rebs
First game: Ateneo vs. National U
Because our shodou class went a little over time, I barely made it to the 4th quarter of the Ateneo-NU game.
I was so happy watching Kiefer Ravena play. He’s so intense but you also see that he’s enjoying it. He is one of the best in the entire league, but he has absolutely no superstar complex. A real team player. Kirk Long was also phenomenal in the game, shackling the NU Bulldogs’ offensive machine, Rayray Parks, who was limited to only 10 points (I think this was his lowest?). On the other hand, Greg Slaughter’s foot work looks like it needs much improvement, but hey, he gets the job done. I’ve read comments likening him to EJ Feihl – not flattering. The best player of the game was Nico Salva – I think he got the award for the past 3 ADMU games already?
I was so excited for the second game that I forgot to take pictures of the 1st game. >_< Sorry na…
My sister wanted more Camus shots but my point-and-shoot won’t let me take nice photos. Sige na nga, ito na lang:
