WOES CONTINUE to pile up for the UST Growling Tigers as they crumbled before the UP Fighting Maroons, 89-88, enduring their fourth straight defeat in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball eliminations on Wednesday, Nov. 5, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Tigers struggled at the charity stripe once again, converting only 28 of their 52 free throws in a game decided by a single point.
“The free throws were insane, we missed a lot,” UST foreign student-athlete Collins Akowe told The Flame.
“I missed 10 out of 20. Imagine I made five more… We would’ve won the game,” he added.
UST now finds itself in rough waters after the loss forged a three-way tie with Adamson and Ateneo for the fourth spot at 5-5.
Meanwhile, reigning champion UP improved its position at the second seed with a 7-3 card.
The España squad opened the match with a 26-16 advantage behind Amiel Acido’s eight markers. The Diliman crew then cut its deficit to five as Francis Nnoruka converted inside at the end of the first.
UST went on a 10-0 burst to kickstart the second salvo, 34-21, but UP later erased the double-digit lead after a triple from Miguel Yniguez and a layup from Harold Alarcon heading into halftime, 47-45.
It was a different look in the third period as the Maroons overtook control with back-to-back treys from Rey Remogat, 54-50.
UST playmaker Forthsky Padrigao exited the game midway through the third with an apparent leg injury, as UP seized a 68-63 lead before the last 10 minutes.
Things intensified in the fourth frame as teams traded blows for multiple lead changes and knots.
Acido buried pressure-filled free throws to take an 88-87 edge, before Harold Alarcon drained a smothered jumper for the win.
Alarcon led State U with 22 points, which included tough fadeaways. Remogat contributed 19 markers with five triples.
For the UST side, it was Akowe who anchored the load with 26 points and 15 boards. Team captain Nic Cabañero backed him up with 18.
The Tigers, which remain winless in round two of the eliminations, will try to end their skid against the FEU Tamaraws on Sunday, Nov. 9, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum. F
