Tigers take PCCL finals Game 1 sans Jarencio

MANILA, Philippines – University of Santo Tomas bucked the absence of head coach Pido Jarencio, hacking out a thrilling 82-76 victory over  Ateneo to draw first blood in their best-of-three finals in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League Best of Three Finals series at the Fil-Oil Flying V Arena in San Juan today.

Down 70-73 with 2:27 remaining in the game, the Tigers pounced on a costly technical foul called on Greg Slaughter with a quick 5-0 zip – capped by a Kevin Ferrer layup – to turn the tides with a 78-73 lead and 20.9 ticks left.

Ryan Buenafe scored on a desperation three-pointer in the ensuing possession to cut the lead down to only two, 76-78, but Jeric Teng and Aljon Mariano sank two clutch free throws each to pull away the win.

"Sabi ko sa mga players depensa ang mag papanalo samin and sa huli yun nga ang key sa panalo namin today. (I told my players that defense will win it for us and in the end, it was indeed the key to our win)," said assistant UST coach Estong Ballesteros, stepping in for Jarencio who reportedly has measles.

"Basta tulong-tulong lang kami. Daming may sakit sa amin pero lagi sinasabi ng coaching staff sa mga bata, ‘kung sino ang mas may puso yun ang mananalo. (We just help each other out. We have so many injured players but the coaching staff just told the boys ‘whoever has the heart will win it,’" Ballesteros added.

Kevin Ferrer fired in 18 points to lead five Tigers in double figures, with Karim Abdul and Teng contributing 12 points each while Mariano and Melo Afuang 11 and 10 points, respectively.

"We in the coach staff are really thankful to Coach Pido for the trust he gave us. We are just returning the favor (with a win), " said Ballesteros.

UST also played without defensive specialist Kim Lo and had to wait for Clark Bautista, who came in late in the second half because of a game in the PBA D-League.

Buenafe paced the Blue Eagles with 15 markers while Juami Tiongson, Greg Slaughter and Tonino Gonzaga chipped in 13, 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Katipunan-based squad.

Ateneo's hot shooting propelled them in the first half to take a 42-39 lead at the break. The Eagles shot 55 percent in field compared to only 40 percent for UST.

Slaughter imposed his will early in the game with 10 first half points to lead the Eagles’ charge.

Game 2 is set at 4 p.m. on Thursday.