Tigers torment Eagles, near PCCL title

MANILA, Philippines - University of Santo Tomas outgunned and outhustled UAAP rival Ateneo down the stretch and escaped with an 82-76 victory yesterday to move closer to a breakthrough victory in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League at The Arena in San Juan City.

The Tigers came through with an 8-0 windup behind Jeric Fortuna, Carmelo Afuang, Karim Abdul and Kevin Ferrer as they turned a 70-73 deficit into a five-point lead en route to victory and a 1-0 edge in their best-of-three title showdown.

The España-based cagers also bucked the absence of coach Pido Jarencio, who was down with measles, and leaned on the flawless shooting of Ferrer and Jeric Teng to pull off the win.

UST, which also thumped Ateneo, 76-66, in last week’s semifinals, guns for the clincher at 4 p.m. tomorrow. A decider, if necessary, is set Friday.

Ryan Buenafe buried a triple to keep Ateneo within, 76-78, with 15 seconds remaining but UST hung tough by making crucial stops and sinking its last four free throws, including a pair from Jeric Teng.

Kevin Ferrer, who sat out UST’s non-bearing 60-63 loss to Southwestern U last Sunday, dished out a flawless shooting stint, making his nine shots to finish with 18 points while Teng made all his eight free throws for a 12-point performance.

Another victory will clinch UST its first championship in the annual event while exacting revenge at the same Ateneo team that swept the Tigers in the recent UAAP finale for the Eagles’ fifth straight championship.

“The players played tough when it mattered most,” said UST assistant Estong Ballesteros, a former pro, in Filipino.

Down 70-73, UST went to Fortuna, who hit a pair of foul shots on a technical foul due to a second delay of game infraction by seven-footer Greg Slaughter that sparked that 8-0 windup.

Afuang then scored on a key, while Abdul, a Cameroonian, followed it up with a clutch putback before Ferrer capped that telling run with a basket of his own.

Slaughter had a strong start with 10 points after he made three of the four shots while making all four free throws. He also had five boards to power the Eagles to a 42-39 lead at the turn.

Earlier, reigning NCAA title-holder San Beda clamped down on Cameroonian Benoit Mbala in the fourth quarter as it repulsed Cebu champion Southwestern U, 64-56, to clinch third place honors. 

The Lions held the 6-6 Mbala, who powered the Cobras to the Cebu collegiate league title on his rookie season, to just two points in the payoff period to preserve the lead and the win.

Mbala ended up with 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

“I must admit, He (Mbala) has drawn interest from some of the Metro Manila schools,” said SWU coach Yayoy Alcoseba.