MANILA, Philippines - University of Santo Tomas closed out with 14-4 run to eke out a 68-58 triumph over University of the Philippines and seize a share of the lead in the UAAP Season 75 men’s basketball tourney at the Smart Araneta Coliseum yesterday.
It was a tough win for the Tigers, who were held to a tight battle by the stubborn Maroons before Karim Abdul (20 points, 12 rebounds) took over in a big UST windup that gave the España-based squad its fifth straight win and 5-1 overall in a tie with idle Ateneo and Far Eastern.
“Probably because it’s prelims week in the school, the boys were somehow tired and sluggish and couldn’t execute in the first three quarters. Fortunately, our game picked up in the fourth and Karim started to dominate,” said UST coach Pido Jarencio, enjoying his first five-game skein as a coach, in Filipino.
“Even if our performance wasn’t good, a win is a win and we’ll take it,” he added.
Holding a shaky 55-54 lead, Abdul imposed his presence inside and scored six points in that decisive run that held off UP (0-5) for good and sustained the Tigers’ unbeaten run.
UST survived the absence of Jeric Teng (injury) and bucked a so-so game by Aljon Mariano, who struggled with four markers, as backups Kim Lo (11 points, eight rebounds, three steals) and Louie Vigil (7 markers, seven boards) stepped up for the Tigers.
Earlier, University of the East drew big plays from diminutive Roi Sumang down the stretch to nip Adamson, 71-66, yesterday and nail its first win after five straight losses.
The 5-foot-8 Sumang fired 18 points off the bench, coming through with one gutsy drive after another in an eight-point explosion in the fourth that quashed the Falcons’ furious fightback from 18-points down.
“He (Sumang) is really a legit pointguard but I have to slide him down to No. 2 for added firepower. We really trust him and those were big shots that he made,” said UE coach Jerry Codiñera in Filipino.
After the Falcons threatened to within 64-67 after trailing by as many as 29-47, Sumang singlehandedly broke down the AdU press to scoot in a short stab coast-to-coast, restoring a fresh five-point spread with 21.1 seconds left in the contest.
He later made two charities to offset Eric Camson’s basket and seal it for UE, which tied its victim at 1-5.
“I’m always motivating the team, telling them it (win) will come, things will get better. I told them let’s offer this to Sam (Razon) because he’s out for the season with ACL injury, let’s exert extra effort for Sam,” said Codiñera.
In women’s action, Allana Lim exploded with 45 points on an eye-popping 22-of-23 shooting in just 22 minutes to power defending champion Far Eastern U to an 85-43 rout of UE for its sixth straight victory.
The 5-foot-11 Lim also had two rebounds, three assists and four steals to make up for her six turnovers.
Camille Sambile also scored 20 points for the Lady Tams.
Former titlist Adamson nipped Ateneo in overtime, 74-70, to improve to 5-1 as Snow Peñaranda made 23 points and 15 rebounds and Janille de Castro made 14 points and 11 boards.