AFTER THE UST Growling Tigers broke their four-game slide on Wednesday, Nov. 12, the team will try to carry on with a renewed “willingness” to close out their remaining games in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament.
The Tigers took care of business against the UE Red Warriors, 109-97, to claim their first second-round win, which preceded losses from DLSU, UP and twice from Adamson.
UST assistant coach Japs Cuan said the España squad had just capitalized on the lessons they had learned from their recent losing streak and taken them to heart.
“I think the difference [today] is our willingness [to win the game] during the endgame and of course our lessons, especially the Adamson game where we relaxed [in the] last few seconds and the UP game that was winnable,” Cuan said postgame at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“At the end of the day, we just moved on and we, as a collective group, just bounced back and trusted one another,” the assistant coach added.
Big man Collins Akowe and captain Nic Cabañero also addressed how the team has been getting over their slump at the free-throw line following their heartbreaking loss to UP, where the team shot an abysmal 24-of-41 from the charity stripe.
“We just have to trust whoever is shooting a free throw… we just need to believe that he can make it. It’s a big thing when we make our free throws, it boosts our confidence in making [the next shots],” Cabañero said.
“We’ve been working on it… It’s not [an individual problem], after practice, before practice, we stay locked in, we shoot free throws together as a team, not individually. We want that [sense of unity],” Akowe added.
The España cagers shot a slightly better 26 of 43 from the line in their win against the struggling Recto-based squad.
Cabañero also said that while they have been struggling lately, he and veteran point guard Forthsky Padrigao are still far from pressing the panic button this season.
“It all starts with me and Forthsky’s leadership and how we stick together as a team. We know that Coach Pido [Jarencio] trusts us a lot [in leading the team],” Cabañero said.
“We won’t be pressing the panic button [for now] [and] we’re still grateful that we got the win today,” he added.
The longest-tenured Tiger led his team in scoring with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting while grabbing five rebounds and three assists. Padrigao contributed 11 points, two rebounds and four assists.
UST currently sits in fourth place with a 6-5 win-loss record and will face the 5-5 Blue Eagles on Saturday, Nov. 15, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“We need to be ready from [the] first man to [the] 16th man… it’s not about me, Nic Cabañero, it’s not about Collins Akowe, it’s not Forthsky Padrigao,” Cabañero said.
“We should prepare well, we shouldn’t underestimate Ateneo just because we beat them in the first round. We need to stay ready and to just play the game that we played today.”
The Tigers won an instant classic against the Blue Eagles after outlasting them, 98-89, in triple overtime at the Blue Eagle Gym last Oct. 11 . F
