Tigers rout Falcons, seal twice-to-beat edge

Games on Saturday (MOA Arena)

2 p.m. – AdMU vs UE

4 p.m. – NU vs FEU

MANILA, Philippines – Leaving nothing to chance, University of Santo Tomas hacked out a 78-63 rout of Adamson to claim the first twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four of the UAAP Season 78 men’s basketball tourney on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Tigers wasted little time taking control with a 12-0 start and repeatedly stepped on the gas pedal to keep the Falcons at bay en route to finishing the eliminations with 11-3 and guaranteeing a Top 2 position in the F4 regardless of the results of the other matches.

UST, which returned to the semis after missing it out last year, could even end up No. 1 if idle leader Far Eastern (10-2) either splits its last two assignments against semis-chasing National U and La Salle or loses both games.

“Gustong gusto naming makuha iyung twice-to-beat kaya pinaghirapan namin ito sa eliminations (We’ve worked so hard to achieve our goal of getting the semis incentive). But we’ll not stop there, we’ll continue to work hard in practice and prepare for whichever team we face,” said UST coach Bong dela Cruz.

Kevin Ferrer rifled in a game-high 25 spiked by four triples and grabbed 10 to help the Tigers follow up their 85-76 victory over the Tams and avoid the possibility of having to go through a KO match for the semis bonus against charging Ateneo (9-4).

“Sabi ko sa teammates, dito kami kukuha ng kumpyansa sa Final Four kaya pagpatuloy natin yung performance against FEU. At least nakita namin kung nasaan kami ngayon (I told the team we should continue what we did in the previous FEU game because we can use this game as confidence-booster going to the Final Four),” Ferrer said.

Ferrer claimed he’s okay after suffering from palpitation in the duel with FEU. “Lahat ng tests normal (All tests showed normal results).”

Louie Vigil (15), Ed Daquioag (11) and Karim Abdul (nine) backstopped Ferrer.

Pape Sarr (12 points, 11 rebounds) and Nico Capote (10 markers, nine boards) paced AdU, which ended its campaign with a 3-11 slate.

The scores

UST 78 – Ferrer 25, Vigil 15, Daquioag 11, Abdul 9, Lao 6, Bonleon 5, Faundo 4, Lee 3, Abdurasad 0, Arana 0, Caunan 0, Garrido 0, Huang 0, Sheriff 0, Suarez 0, Subido 0.

AdU 63 – Sarr 12, Capote 10, Ochea 9, Nalos 8, Tungcab 8, Polican 5, Fernandez 4, J. Garcia 3, Villanueva 2, Bernardo 1, Margallo 1, Escalambre 0, C. Garcia 0, Miranda 0.

Quarterscores: 21-14, 37-26, 57-44, 78-63.