Tigers move a win away from title, escape Archers in Game 1

MANILA, Philippines -- University of Santo Tomas mustered enough endgame poise and neutralized a potential La Salle squeaker with a crucial defensive stop to run away with a 73-72 Game 1 win in the finals of the 76th UAAP men's basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.

Kevin Ferrer pumped in 20 points, including a pivotal trey in the game’s closing seconds, to lead the Tigers, who moved one win away from a 19th UAAP basketball championship after a nip-and-tuck affair.

"Shocked nga ako kung pano kami nanalo. Breaks of the game lang. Nag-turnover kami sa huli pero happy ending pa din naman," said UST coach Pido Jarencio at a post-game interview. 

"Even lang talaga yung match-up namin. Pwede sila manalo, pwede kami. Breaks of the game lang talaga,” Jarencio stressed.

The Archers had two chances to steal the game when Almond Vosotros missed a triple while Cameroonian bigman Abdul came up huge, blocking LA Revilla's lay-up to prevent a potentially disastrous outcome for UST.

Abdul and Jeric Teng chipped in 19 and 17 points, respectively, to back the Espana-based cagers, who have a chance to wrap the series on Saturday.

UST almost lost with a blunder, committing a crucial inbound turnover with 29.1 ticks when they were up 73-72.

"Basta kami nothing to lose pa rin. Galing kami sa ilalim, basta babangon kami," said Jarencio.

Facing a 50-54 deficit at the start of the payoff period, Teng opened the festivities with a quick 5-0 zip to give the Tigers a 55-54 lead with 9:15 left.

Both teams figured in a high-scoring affair in the final canto that saw the Tigers with a slim 70-69 lead with less than a minute remaining.

Ferrer uncorked a booming triple with 41.6 ticks left to give UST a 73-69 breather.

Jeron Teng was not yet ready to lose and managed to drill in a 3-point play in the baseline to cut the deficit to 72-73 with 29.6 seconds remaining to set up the wild finish.

"Malaking bagay talaga yung experience na yun (finals appearance last year). Coming to this game I think we're relaxed kaya parang alam na namin ang gagawin," said the graduating Jeric.

UST started the opening quarter with a blistering 21-4 run capped by a triple by Ferrer, who wound up with 12 points in that canto alone.

La Salle answered with their own 21-4 run, which spanned from the first to the second periods, to tie the knot at 25-all.

UST’s Teng answered the call for the Tigers, going on a personal 9-2 run to take a 34-27 lead at the 3:52 mark of the second canto. The Tigers took a 38-31 advantage at the break.

Unlike their flat start, La Salle came out of the dugout for the second half with renewed determination and scored the nine straight points to grab the lead, 40-38, with 6:34 remaining in the third period.

Vosotros led the Green Archers with 20 points while Jeron Teng and Jason Perkins chipped 15 and 13, points respectively.

Game 2 is at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.