Game 3: Tigers, Archers to lean on ‘other stars’

MANILA, Philippines - University of Santo Tomas’ coach Pido Jarencio is hoping veteran forward Aljon Mariano will break out of his slump in Saturday’s deciding Game Three of the UAAP Season 76 men’s basketball wars against La Salle.

Mariano, the Tigers’ second-best scorer and rebounder during the elims, has been virtually “missing” in the championship series, where he logged two points and five rebounds in their 73-72 Game One win and a slightly-improved nine markers and eight boards in their 70-77 Game Two loss.

“Hindi naman nag-disappear si Aljon. Andyan lang yan, hintayin lang natin. Malay mo sa baka pumutok na sa Sabado (Aljon is still there. Let’s be patient with him. Who knows, he might explode this Saturday),” said UST coach Pido Jarencio.

Mariano’s strong presence is direly needed by UST against La Salle’s triple tower – Norbert Torres, Arnold van Opstal and Jason Perkins. The Archers have been making a killing inside the paint, averaging 43 points there versus only 20 for UST, and holding the edge in total rebounding, 50.5 to 41, and offensive boards, 22.5 to 8.5  

The Archers’ frontliners will also get a big boost with the expected return of Matt Salem from illness (mumps). The 6-foot-3 Fil-Am is a deadly three-point shooter, which could make UST defenders think twice about collapsing on the DLSU’s post up players.

“He was out in the first two games but he’ll be ready for Saturday,” said DLSU coach Juno Sauler of the rookie, who accounted for eight triples in the elims.

“It’s a big factor also because he’s one of our bigs who can spread the floor. We all know he can shoot the three-point shots in case the bigs can’t maneuver inside because of the defense thrown. Matt Salem is there to provide for better floor spacing,” Sauler added.

Meanwhile, in an apparent effort to curb scalping, SM Tickets, the ticketing arm of Mall of Asia, announced that tickets for the hotly anticipated Game Three will only be sold on game day itself.

In its official Facebook page, SM Tickets said selling will open at 1 p.m. on Saturday, just one and half hour before the 3:30 p.m. tip-off. 

“No ticket selling in the branches and online, only at the Marina (Green Entrance) ticket booth at the Mall of Asia Arena,” it announced.

Furthermore, it said a policy of “one ticket per physically present person in line only” will be strictly enforced. It also ordered that “those in line will be directed straight to the venue entrance” and that “customer will not be allowed to leave the line after purchase.”

SM Tickets said it will offer 1,000 lower box SRO tickets, 300 upperbox SRO tickets and 500 general admission tickets. “Best available tickets at the time of purchase,” it said.