MANILA, Philippines -- The UST Growling Tigers rode on the hot shooting of Kevin Ferrer in the third quarter then pulled the necessary stops in the closing minutes to force a winner-take-all Game 3.
The Tigers roared back with a 62-56 victory against the Far Eastern University Tamaraws on Saturday in Game 2 of the UAAP Season 78 Finals before a huge crowd of 21,933 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Ferrer waxed hot with 24 points in the third quarter in what went down as one of the greatest individual performances in the UAAP Finals history as the Tigers evened the series at one game apiece. His third quarter outburst is the most by any player in a single quarter since Imperium Technology Inc. started recording the statistics of the league in 2003.
Ed Daquioag and Karim Abdul put the game under wraps with steady shooting at the stripes while the Tams imploded in the closing minutes after grabbing a 54-52 lead.
Abdul's charity split and Louie Vigil basket signaled the end of the Tamaraws as the Tigers growled with nine unanswered points to post a commanding 61-54 lead which they protected until the end.
Ferrer finished with career-high tying 29 points on 9-of-18 shooting including going 8-of-9 in the third and added 10 rebounds to will the Tigers back after being down by nine at the half, 21-30.
Mac Belo led the Tams with another double-double of 16 points and 11 boards but they were hurt by Mike Tolomia's 0-of-15 shooting and six turnovers. The enigmatic FEU guard still wound up with seven points, eight rebounds and six assists.