Tiger Cubs top Red Robins in BBI caging

MANILA, Philippines – With a seat firmly booked in the semifinals of the Under-19 division of the Sulit.ph Breakdown Basketball Invitationals, the UST Tiger Cubs opted to mostly rest its stars in Bismarck Lina and Mark Nonoy. But they still have plenty of firepower as UST crushed Mapua’s Juniors Team B, 80-55, at the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center in Quezon City.

Mapua actually led, 21-11, after the first quarter of play as UST fielded in its reserves. Despite the deficit, head coach Bonnie Garcia refused to field in Lina and Nonoy. His players’ rewarded his faith by dropping a 12-0 bomb to take the lead at 23-21 following a John Lalica layup. 

Mapua’s Ruben Mardoquio arrested the skid with a jump shot as the Red Robins seized back the lead.

After the game’s second deadlock at 27-all, Lina and Nonoy were finally fielded and the Tiger Cubs found some stability en route to a 39-35 halftime lead.

Bismarck Lina greeted Mapua with a jump shot to open the second half of play and that opened the dam for UST as they busted the game wide open with a 21-7 salvo. 

Tiger Cubs Marcus Estrella and Zian Benzonan each scored 12 points and seldom-used player Jean Beliran who finished with 10 markers to pace UST. 

Mapua’s Julian Jugo led all scorers with 18 points. His teammate, John Canivel added 10 points in the loss; the Red Robins’ sixth in seven matches. 

The Tiger Cubs pace the BBI Under-19 division with a 7-1 record with a few weeks to play before the opening of the UAAP Juniors competition.