THE UST Growling Tigers completed their quest in bringing home their second preseason championship of the year by blowing-out the Centro Escolar University Scorpions, 81-60, at the 2026 Pinoyliga Cup: The Big Dance Finals on Thursday, Sept. 3, at the Playtime Filoil Center.
The Big Dance All-Tournament inductee and Finals MVP Collins Akowe spearheaded the stat sheet with 17 points and six rebounds, while co-inductee Mark Llemit added 13 markers and six boards.
“This title is a momentum boost for us going into the UAAP season, to show what we got, work as a team and build chemistry,” Akowe told The Flame.
“We just need to stay ready, stay hungry, and stick with the system with proper execution,” the Finals MVP added.
Both teams exchanged blows in the first period, but Landyn Jumawan’s shot beyond the arc and Koji Buenaflor’s block to Troy Gicoso made the Tigers survive a neck-to-neck scoring battle with the Scorpions, 20-18
With UST having their three-point shooting woes in the first few minutes of the second salvo, CEU immediately emerged in a 8-6 scoring run led by Gicoso and Kem Samsalon, 26-30.
However, the Tigers made-up for those struggles with an Akowe lay-up and Amiel Acido’s two-straight buckets a minute before halftime, 37-32, in which CEU’s Nathaniel Caldit quickly answered with a buzzer-beating basket of his own, 37-34.
The España-based squad quickly fired-up beyond the arc to open the half with a 7-2 run composed of Acido’s corner three, Jiro Sevilla’s three free-throws, and Kirk Cañete’s back-to-back snipes, 54-43.
UST stayed consistent as they wrapped-up the third period in dominating fashion with massive defensive efforts topped by Acido’s wide-open layup, 60-46.
The Tigers kept the momentum going in the final quarter by massively outscoring the Mendiola-based squad until the final buzzer, with Akowe and Kris Porter leading the fourth period scoring piling-up 14 combined markers.
Acido and Porter added 25 combined points in a win for UST.
Meanwhile, Gicoso led the Scorpions with 13 markers, while foreign student-athlete Precious Momowei, another All-Tournament honoree, chipped-in 11 points and six boards in a loss.
Together with Akowe and Llemit, one-and-done guard Jumawan also received the All-Tournament nod in his debut run with UST.
“All blessings to God..he just blessed me with this position to keep on playing basketball and letting it shine through me,” Jumawan told The Flame as he obtained such recognition in his rookie year.
Other awardees of the All-Tournament Roster include JRU’s EJ Gollena together with Ateneo’s Kieffer Alas and Travis Roberts.
The Tigers will head back in action for the UAAP Season 89 with momentum against the UP Fighting Maroons on Sunday, Sept. 13, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. F
