UST’s Tounkara vows to improve on self-control amid ejection

MANILA, Philippines — University of Santo Tomas’ Mo Tounkara acknowledged that he needs to “control himself” better moving forward, after being ejected from the Growling Tigers’ overtime loss against the La Salle Green Archers in their UAAP Season 87 clash on Wednesday. 

UST was in the middle of a furious rally in the fourth quarter before Tounkara was tossed from the game after two technical fouls. 

The second technical was called for taunting, which put him to an early exit just before the Tigers forced overtime. 

But Tounkara’s presence was sorely missed in the extra five minutes, with La Salle starting overtime with an 11-1 run to go up by 10, 91-81, which kept the Espana-based squad at bay. 

UST eventually lost, 94-87. 

After the game, Tounkara, one of the main guns of UST, admitted that he was “too much in the game.” 

“Man, I was too much in the game. Sometimes, I have to control myself, you know? Like, I think if I was there, we would have a much greater chance but I need to control myself sometimes,” he said. 

“I got too much in the game, that’s why,” he added. 

After being ejected, Tounkara is expected to be suspended in the Tigers’ next match against the Ateneo Blue Eagles. 

He is also expected to be ineligible for individual awards this season. 

The big man, though, said that the team will submit an appeal to try and allow him to play in the next game. 

“It’s only about basketball, but... I have to manage myself in these kinds of situations. We’re going to face these situations again, and I have to take control of that.”

Tounkara, though, lauded his team for fighting back from 20 points down and almost winning the game. 

“That really shows that we have a pretty good team this year. We keep growing, and we keep getting better every day. That’s what I can see from the team. Through our preparations, we are going to be much better as we look forward to the next five games,” he said. 

UST has lost two straight games to start the second round and dropped to 4-5 in the season, with five games remaining in the eliminations.