Tigers rebound

October 1, 2006 | 387 views

WORDS: Reuben Ezra Terrado of Ubelt.com

University of Santo Tomas lived to fight for another day after stopping the Ateneo De Manila from sweeping the finals, 87-81, in Game 2 of the best-of-three championship series last September 30 at the Araneta Coliseum.

Dylan Ababou and Jojo Duncil recovered from their Game 1 struggles with 22 and 20 points respectively. Ababou connected on 9-of-10 shooting from the field and grabbed nine rebounds, five on offensive variety. Duncil shot 2-of-6 from the three-point stripe on the offensive end and stole the ball two times on defense.

A four-point swing by Tigers' Jervy Cruz and Anthony Espiritu after Ford Arao was called for an unsportsmanlike foul doomed the Blue Eagles as it started a 9-0 run to pull away. Also on that juncture, Cruz hit a short stab and Mark Canlas scored a looping shot after Ateneo missed on their easy shots.

"Objective lang namin today ay talunin sila," said UST coach Pido Jarencio. "Marami akong ginamit na player ngayon at nag-step up sila."

Jervy Cruz had 10 points and 13 rebounds while Allan Evangelista and Anthony Espiritu also had 10 markers. Seldom-used Jun Dizon had six points off the bench, all in the first half.

With the win, the Tigers bounced back in a big way after many observers downplayed UST's chances after losing a heart-breaking 73-72 decision over the Blue Eagles in Game 1.

"Wala kaming pressure coming into this game," Jarencio also said. "Ang pressure, nasa kanila dahil nothing to lose naman kami sa series na ito."

JC Intal, who lost the Most Valuable Player award to Ken Bono earlier, had a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Game 1 hero Doug Kramer had 14 points and 13 rebounds. Chris Tiu added 12 points and seven rebounds.

Macky Escalona, credited for giving a great inbounds pass to Kramer in Game 1, did pumped in 10 markers but missed all his five free throws, mostly in the crucial fourth period.

Ateneo seized the early moments of Game 2 with a 9-4 lead. The Tigers slowly got back and was able to take the lead on Ababou's shot to end the first quarter, 21-20.

The Tigers continued its rampage as it started the second period with a 9-0 run capped off by Ababou's five-point swing, 30-20. Not even Intal's 12 points in that period including a left baseline two-hand throw-down could shackle UST as it closed the quarter ahead, 48-38.

It was Duncil's show in the third as he connected on nine markers including the first five points of the quarter. Trapped from Ateneo's frontline in the baseline, Duncil also gave a beautiful feed to Ababou for a 61-51 score.

Tiu scored on back-to-back shots with the last basket, a beautiful give-and-go play for to cut it to five. But Ababou and Duncil connected from the charity as the third quarter ended 65-57.

"Nagpapasalamat ako sa mga taong sumoporta sa amin," Jarencio added. "Sa kanila kami kumukuha ng lakas."

An expected SRO crowd will troop to the Araneta Coliseum on October 2 for the winner-take-all Game 3.

Game 2 was supposed to be set on September 28 but was postponed due to typhoon "Milenyo", which affected the whole Metro Manila and its neighboring provinces.