One last chance for UST; FEU seeks semis slot in UAAP juniors basketball

MANILA, Philippines — And so it comes to one final elimination round game.

The hitherto undefeated National University Bullpups face the pesky Far Eastern University Baby Tamaraws on Wednesday, February 5. A sweep means they go straight to the finals while the teams left in the running duke it out.

Meanwhile, FEU wants to show that they can compete with NU.

For its part, Ateneo, after thrashing De La Salle Zobel last Sunday, 79-52, will want to continue their momentum when they take on Adamson in what could very well be the first of two matches (should UST falter in their last game). 

The Baby Falcons jumped over UST after their 124-68 thrashing of the University of the East. Ateneo will be wary of the momentum that Adamson is picking up. There will be no letup in their 9 a.m. encounter on Wednesday.

The UST Tiger Cubs are on a three-game slide. They were in third place two weeks ago and have since fallen to fifth spot after that debilitating loss to FEU last Sunday, 81-73. They paid for having a thin bench and a huge gamble by their coaching staff during the game.

With not much help coming from the bench and sub-par outings from James Maliwat and Jan Villarez, UST played workhorse Bismarck Lina and Jacob Cortez long minutes (38 and 34 minutes, respectively). The Tiger Cubs held a slim lead and when the duo went to the bench, the second unit quickly lost the advantage. The starters returned and the game ended at 39-all heading into the half. Without much help, the starts, including Jethro Escoto, got tired. Rojan Montemayor contributed nine points but was absent down the stretch.

The Baby Tamaraws only put some distance with a little over two minutes to go as UST committed three crucial miscues and missed three consecutive shots. By the time they found the range, time had run out.

The knock on UST for the last several seasons is they have always had a thin bench. I think they have some pieces but not playing them hurts their confidence. For the first time in three years, they have a wonderful two-man connection in Lina and Cortez. Lina is a workhorse and put in 25 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals. He denied many a shot and his teammates helped in the boards, but the glaring stat is this — six bench points to FEU’s 29. Lina got many of the Baby Tamaraws’ bigs in foul trouble, but the FEU brain trust responded by throwing triple teams with help coming from the weak side to force Lina to pitch out the ball. And following that, UST ran out of ideas on offense.

Penny Estacio was a constant threat while Patrick Sleat got going for FEU late in the game. 

Now, UST’s fate rests in another team’s hands. They need to win against DLSZ and hope Ateneo defeats Adamson for them to figure in a one-game playoff with Adamson for that fourth and final seed. 

The Blue Eaglets found their verve from Forthsky Padrigao’s game on the defense end. Harassing the Juniors Archers’ guards no end, Padrigao inspired Ateneo to a massive blowout of DLSZ.