University of the Santo Tomas made sure to bounce back in its own backyard on Saturday in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament.
Following a close loss to National U, the Growling Tigers gave the Thomasians at Quadricentennial Pavilion a treat with a dominant 111-99 victory over the hapless University of the East.
‘We have so much confidence from coach Pido. He gave it to our vets like Nic (Cabanero) and Forthsky (Padrigao) and even to Collins (Akowe), who’s been playing under the weather for almost two weeks now,’ assistant coach Juben Ledesma said. ‘Of course, we also saw the support of the whole community. We thank them because we really feel it playing in our home court.’
The home bets barely led the Red Warriors at the intermission, 59-55, setting up what could’ve been a classic barn burner.
But UST found its stride in the penultimate frame with 24 quarter points, all while limiting the opposition to 12 points, en route to 3-1 card.
Cabañero headlined the UST victory with 22 points, eight assists, three rebounds and two steals. Padrigao finished with 18 points, like Akowe did in his double-double along with 17 rebounds.
John Abate scored a game-high 27 points for UE, which dropped to 0-4. Dray Caoile scored 23 while Precious Momowei notched a double-double of 16 points and 15 rebounds in a losing effort.