UAAP Sunday: UST, UP win as Adamson, NU bungle their endgames

MANILA, Philippines – Last Sunday’s UAAP men’s basketball games can be summed up this way: one team won it while the other bungled it big time.

The University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers finished off unlucky National University in overtime, 87-74, to go up to 3-1, while the University of the Philippines pulled the rug from under Adamson University in the endgame, 83-82, to go to 2-1.

The Bulldogs looked to have solved the Tigers when they held off the latter for much of the game. With a little over two minutes left, NU held a 63-58 lead and had ball possession. Then Enzo Joson threw the ball away. UST’s Chabi Yo made them pay with a bucket to bring the score to 63-60. Joson was then fouled on the opposite end and he split his free throws for a 64-60 count.

UST’s Rhenz Abando hit a triple to cut the lead to one, 64-63, with 1:30 to play. Joson answered with a strong drive to make it 66-63 with 1:09 left to play. 

NU’s Sean Ildefonso scored on a putback to make it 68-63. Abando split his free throws as UST closed in anew, 68-64, with 38 seconds left then after a failed NU possession hit another triple to bring the count to 68-67, 28 seconds left. After Zach Huang tied the score with a free throw, Joson scored to give NU a 70-68 lead with 10 seconds to play.

UST rookie found Chabi Yo inside for a score to send the game into overtime, and that was it because NU had nothing left in overtime. 

The story for NU in the fourth period centered on those six turnovers. Although UST only scored two points off them, it stymied their offense and chances of putting the game away.

That makes it thrice now where the Bulldogs bottled the endgame. 

In our preseason preview, I said that I didn’t think NU would make it to the Final Four this year as the team needed another year to jell and to really function as a unit (remember most of the players here are sophomores or juniors). I have been impressed with their growth since the end of the Filoil summer league but their end game concerns validate my sentiment about them. 

They have grown and in my honest opinion, one reason why NU has been able to keep the games close has been because of Issa Gaye. His constant problem though is his penchant for fouls. This game was no different and he was on the bench and scored only six points and grabbed nine rebounds. 

This team needs steady play from certain players. If Dave Ildefonso passes that ball a bit more, if John Lloyd Clemente finds a regular rhythm to his game, and if Miguel Oczon can be consistent, they will give NU some players to depend on in the endgame. 

What NU needs are veterans who will have a calming influence in the way they finish off games. That is exactly what happened when Adamson lost to UP.

Without heady veterans to steady that play, Adamson crumbled in a game that they should have won against UP.

They led, 73-70, with 1:07 to play. UP missed in their next offensive and Adamson rookie Aaron Flowers grabbed the precious defensive rebound. The second bad pass in the last two minutes hurt once more. UP’s Javi Gomez De Liaño hit a triple to send the game into overtime. Adamson had nothing left as well in extension.

In the fourth quarter, UP scored nine points off Adamson’s turnovers. And they had a 7-2 advantage in second chance points. That’s the story right there.

I wondered how much of an influence Jerrick Ahanmisi would be for this team this year as I always thought he was more of a complimentary player rather than a go-to player (that role went to Sean Manganti last year). Simon Camacho’s game has really gone down and well, Kristian Bernardo has been mostly sat. It is too much to ask for Jerom Lastimosa to step up because this is only his second year on the team.

With those guys not doing well late in the game, it is too much to ask Val Chauca, Adrian Manlapaz, and Lenda Douanga to pull out the game. They can from time to time, but for the Falcons to return to the Final Four, their small core of veterans not only have to be consistent but they also have to inspirational.

UP has its grizzled veterans in Bright Akhuetie, Ricci Rivero, Jun Manzo and the Gomez De Liaño brothers. Add a Kobe Paras to the mix and that’s tough squad to beat as well. And all came through in the endgame to rally from looked like a second consecutive loss.

This win reinvigorates UP and gives them the confidence to push forward. A loss by either UST or UP would have been damaging because the others can close the gap.