FIVE YEARS ago, the Renzo Subido-led UST Growling Tigers shocked Diliman and delighted España when they booted out the twice-to-beat UP Fighting Maroons to enter the UAAP Season 82 Finals.
Now, in their first Final Four appearance since 2019, the Tigers find themselves in the same hole they were in before.
To repeat history, the third-seeded UST will have to stun last year’s finalist UP in Game 1 of the semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 30, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum. A victory for the Tigers will force a win-or-go-home match-up, with the victors booking a trip to the finals.
But knocking out the twice-to-beat state-run University will be a daunting task for the redemption-seeking Tigers.
The España-based squad’s two meetings with the Diliman squad this season did not go in its favor, dropping both games with a losing margin of ten points or more. In both games, UP’s high-flyer Francis Lopez dismantled UST’s defense as he led his team to a season sweep with an average of 17.5 points.
Leading the pack on the other side is King Tiger Nic Cabañero, who will be entering his first Final Four as a senior. Cabañero had the second-highest scoring average of 16.29 points, close to the 16.64 point of DLSU’s back-to-back MVP Kevin Quiambao. The UST star closed out this season’s Mythical Five team.
Also running the show for the Tigers is Season 85 champion point guard and former Ateneo Blue Eagle Forthsky Padrigao, who led the league in assists at 6.07 dimes a game. The floor general, who has made the Final Four in all of his playing years, will look to add another Finals appearance to his belt.
Although both stars are currently in their fourth year, the future looks promising for UST, as rookie Amiel Acido showed a solid outing for the team this season. Despite only averaging 3.5 points per game, Acido showed his true potential in the Tigers’ Final Four-clinching win over the Adamson Soaring Falcons. When UST desperately needed a win, the former NCAA Juniors MVP fired 14 points, including four three pointers to secure UST’s best record since Season 82.
However, the Fighting Maroons are bent on preventing a repeat of the Subido episode, which saw them bowing out of Season 82 because of a clutch three-pointer by the then graduating Tiger point guard. Team veterans JD Cagulangan and Harold Alarcon will gun for their fourth consecutive finals appearance and to exact revenge on the reigning DLSU Green Archers, which bagged last year’s crown after three games.
Cagulangan, who is in his last playing year, made this season’s Mythical Five team. The guard accumulated a team-high 69.167 statistical points, which is enough to place him third in the MVP race. Alarcon closed out the season with a career-high 33 points that helped UP take out the struggling UE Red Warriors.
Also contributing to the Fighting Maroons is one-and-done big man Quentin Millora-Brown. The 6’10 Fil-Am center has proven to be an important piece in the roster after averaging 8.6 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.
UST’s foreign student-athlete Mo Tounkara will be put under a tough task of holding down España’s paint. The Malian center averaged 13.85 points and 10.23 boards in 13 starts.
UP as a team edged out UST in all major statistical categories, including points, assists, rebounds, steals, and blocks per game.
The state-run university is heavily favored in the upcoming match, but UST is determined to beat the odds.
Just like the underdog David who fought the giant Goliath with a sling and a stone, UST is banking on two things to beat it’s twice-to-beat rival – hard work and luck.
“Parang David and Goliath ‘yan. Medyo maganda ‘yong labanan na ‘to (It will be like a David and Goliath match. This promises to be a good game),” Tigers coach Pido Jarencio said after his team bagged the third slot in the Final Four last Nov. 16.
“Basta kami, preparasyon na kami ngayon for the Final Four … Malay mo ‘di ba, bilog ang bola, may tsamba… Nasa lupa lang kami. Tignan natin. Pagtatrabahuhin lang namin lahat (We will just prepare now that we are in the Final Four. Who knows? The ball is round. There is such a thing as luck. We will keep our feet on the ground. Let us see. We will work hard for it).” F – Joshua Sumanghid with reports from Shayne Lee Andreas Macaraeg
