Warriors rally to stun Tigers, return to Filoil finals after 4 years

MANILA, Philippines – UE is returning to the finals of  the Filoil Flying V Premier Cup after four years after a thrilling 77-75 come-from-behind victory over UST at The Arena in San Juan Friday.

Down 72-73 with 1:05 remaining, JM Noble converted on a continuation play to give back the lead to the Red Warriors while Charles Mammie delivered the finishing blow with a layup to put them ahead, 77-73, with 21.7 ticks left.

Paulo Pe drained a baseline jumper to cut UE’s lead to 75-77, and Gino Jumao-as of UE committed a costly turnover to give the ball back to UST.

Reeling from the loss of Kevin Ferrer, Jeric Teng and Karim Abdul to graduation, UST failed to have a good look at the basket with Eduardo Daquiog’s desperation trey coming to no avail.

“The momentum was with them the whole game but we snatched it away from them in the fourth quarter. This game is about who wanted it the most,” said UE Head Coach Boycie Zamar.

“I told the boys that we cannot win if we play one-on-one basketball. We have to learn it the hard way. But I’m happy the real UE basketball showed up in the end,” he added.

Sumang, Mammie and Noble scored 16 points each to lead the Warriors to the tournament’s finals for the first time since 2009.

"Ang tagal na since last time namin makapasok sa Finals. Itong pag-abot namin sa Finals is a big achievement already for the team. Sa Finals, kahit ano pwede mangyari," said Zamar, whose wards will face the winner of the NU-SBC matchup that still in progress as of posting time.

UST started the game firing on all cylinders, taking a huge 22-11 in the first quarter, but UE sneaked in quick three points to close the quarter and cut the lead to single digit.

The Growling Tigers continue to wax hot in the second period and took a huge 39-26 advantage at the end of the first half.

Abdul registered double digits in the scoring column with 12 points in the first half to lead the Tigers at the break.

Seemingly left for dead in the seams, the Warriors faced a huge 50-34 deficit but closed the third canto with a 16-6 run to close the gap, 56-50, entering the last quarter.

The UE rampage continued in the fourth quarter and stringed together an 11-0 capped by a breakaway lay-up from Jumao-as to take a 64-59 advantage with 6:23 remaining in the payoff period.

Kevin Ferrer fired in 19 points to lead Growling Tigers while Karim Abdul punched in a workman-like effort with a 14 point, 13 rebound double-double performance for UAAP’s first runner-up last season.