Scrappy Ferrer spells difference for Tigers

MANILA, Philippines - From being the pesky “Detroit Piston” to National U’s Bobby Ray Parks Jr., University of Santo Tomas forward Kevin Ferrer has shown he can deliver the goods offensively as well for the Tigers, who are now a win away from the UAAP Season 76 men’s basketball crown.

Ferrer fired 20 big points spiked by a five-of-eight shooting from beyond the arc to help UST secure a 73-72 triumph over La Salle that put the Tigers closer to becoming the first No. 4 seeds to go all the way to the championship in the Final Four era.

“My extra training sessions for shooting are paying off,” said Ferrer in Pilipino. “But we still have work to do and I will keep on doing extra shooting practices.” 

The former UAAP juniors MVP, aside from his usual role “pestering” the opponent’s top forward, has hit some clutch baskets for the Tigers in this crucial stage of the tournament.

From an 11.2 average in the elims, Ferrer has stepped up his offensive game and normed 17.3 markers in their historic Final Four victories over top seed NU and Wednesday’s series opener. 

He knocked down his first three shots from rainbow territory to lead UST to an early 21-4 lead against La Salle and made two more triples in payoff period. Ferrer’s booming triple at the top of the key gave the Tigers some breathing room, 73-69, going to the last 41 seconds of the contest.

“I was very confident when I released that shot and I knew it would go in,” said Ferrer.

DLSU coach Juno Sauler cited Ferrer as the biggest thorn on the Archers’ side that game.

“The 62 percent of Ferrer from the trey, that’s the one that killed us,” said Sauler. “We just have to take away those shots of Ferrer from the trey, play better offense and get good shots to increase our field-goal percentage.”

With Ferrer on the firing end, UST shot 41.2 percent from three-point area and 43.3 percent from the floor overall.

“We just have to get up a little bit on them, make sure we get to challenge every shot they take from the perimeter,” said the DLSU mentor.

Sauler refused to believe that UST’s experience in the finals was the deciding factor in Game 1.

“It’s not really their championship experience but they’ve really been playing very well in their last three games so we just have to do better next game,” he said.

He added that it’s imperative to prevent the Tigers from charging ahead from the opening buzzer. “They’ve been starting very well in every game so we just have to make sure they don’t do that again in the next game.”

Game Two will be played tomorrow at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The Tigers look to sustain the trend in championship duels, where 15 of the 19 Game One winners have gone on to sweep the series.