Tigers hurdle scrappy Archers, share lead

Schedule on Saturday (MOA Arena)

2 p.m. – Cheerdance Competition

Games on Sunday (MOA Arena)

11 a.m. – UP vs AdU

4 p.m. – DLSU vs AdMU

MANILA, Philippines - University of Santo Tomas once again showed its ability to come out of huge holes, unleashing a series of spurts in the last three quarters to rally from 14 points down to beat La Salle, 77-61, and gain a share of the UAAP Season 78 men’s basketball lead yesterday at the MOA Arena.

The Tigers erased a 14-point deficit with a 12-0 windup in the second then kept their foot on the pedal in the next 20 minutes to secure their fifth victory in six games and join idle Far Eastern U atop the standings.

La Salle fell to 3-3.

“It was because of our defense. We were down by 14 but we’re able to recover and execute our defensive game plan. And it fueled our offense,” said UST coach Bong dela Cruz in Filipino.

The Tigers somehow mimicked their effort in their previous win – a 68-58 disposal of Ateneo, in which they launched a strong 26-6 finish to complete their fightback from 16 points down.

UST drew heroics from an assortment of heroes.

Kevin Ferrer, who played only 16 minutes due to foul trouble, fired a game-high 17 spiked by three triples while Karim Abdul (13 markers, 13 rebounds), and Ed Daquiaog (11 points, three assists) gave their usual numbers.

Subs Louie Vigil (10 points with two treys) and Kyle Suarez (nine points all from beyond the arc) also gave their share.

With Ferrer riding on the bench and La Salle ahead by four, the Tigers came through with 13 unanswered points to wrest the lead, 47-38, at the 4:28 mark of the third. The España-based squad surged ahead to 19 at 70-51 halfway through the fourth using the three-point shot as main weapon. UST made 11 of its 24 tries from the area.

“My brothers stepped up while I was out due to foul trouble,” said Ferrer.

Earlier, Ateneo rebounded from its numbing loss last time, venting its ire on skidding University of the Philippines, 56-43, to pick up its fourth win in six outings.

Learning their lessons from their fourth-quarter meltdown in a 58-68 loss to the UST Tigers last week, the Blue Eagles played high intensity for the entire 40 minutes to regain their winning ways. The Maroons fell to their fourth consecutive setback for 2-4 overall.

“This is a good bounce-back win for us,” said AdMU coach Bo Perasol, whose squad also extended its streak against UP to 12 games since 2009.

AdMU did a better job at the finish this time, not allowing a repeat of the UST game where they were outscored 26-6 in the payoff period. The Eagles punched in 11 against UP’s 12 in the fourth.

“We talked about how we can close out games. Most of the time we start well but it’s a matter of how we’re going to close it out. It’s also important that Von (Pessumal) and Kiefer (Ravena) got their shots when the rally was going on,” Perasol said.

“This is a good bounce-back win for us,” he added.