University of Santo Tomas’ woes from the free throw line continued Wednesday.
UST shot itself in the foot again with 24 missed shots from the charity stripe in a heartbreaking 89-88 loss to University of the Philippines for its fourth consecutive loss in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament.
‘Regarding our free throws, I know my teammates work on it but it’s been our problem for the past games,’ UST guard Amiel Acido said after the Growling Tigers lost on a game-winner for the second straight time.
‘We know that even if we make mistakes, miss free throws, we continue to fight back. That’s what we talked about after this.’
Ironically, Acido could’ve given the Growling Tigers a much-needed win after his pair of free throws put the on top, 88-87, with 27 seconds left.
But the Fighting Maroons had the final say with Harold Alarcon knocking down a jumper to win the game with 22 ticks to go.
Collins Akowe, who gave UP fits in their season-opening duel last September, had his way anew with 26 points and 16 rebounds, but he also hurt his team by going 10-of-20 at the line.
In the Tigers’ last three games, they’ve only made 49 out of 93 attempts from the free throw line. They shot 52 free throws against the Maroons and still lost. They went 17-of-27 in a 97-96 loss to Adamson exactly a week ago.
‘Sometimes, I don’t know as well, but we always have a next play mentality,’ said Acido, who actually shot well from the line, making five out of six.
‘Automatic. We need to do extra work on our free throws because those situations earlier, those were heavy. That would’ve given us the win. Hopefully, we fix it.’
Once one of the best teams in the league this season, UST is now in danger of missing the Final Four at 5-5 with only four games left in the elimination round.