UST’s Akowe tips hat off to Osang for stepping up in stellar UAAP debut

MANILA, Philippines — Resident foreign student-athlete Collins Akowe lauded Peter Osang for his huge performance in University of Santo Tomas’ win over University of the East in their UAAP Season 89 men’s basketball clash on Wednesday. 

For the first time this season, Akowe did not suit up as the Growling Tigers’ reinforcement against the Red Warriors. 

Instead, Osang, UST’s second FSA, made his UAAP debut, and he did not disappoint. 

He stood tall in the 97-70 win against the also-ran Red Warriors, finishing with 19 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks and two steals. 

He also had a +- of +23, just behind Amiel Acido’s +26. 

With Osang powering the Tigers, the Espana-based squad rose to a 6-6 win-loss record, good for solo-fifth in the tournament. 

After the game, Akowe tipped his hat to the high-flying Nigerian. 

“He performed well. He did his job,” Akowe told Philstar.com.

“It was an outstanding performance and shoutout to him.” 

Osang, who committed to UST in 2023, thus quickly made his mark in his UAAP debut. 

He scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds in the first quarter, which set the tone for the rest of the game. 

Akowe said that he gave Osang several pointers in his debut. 

“[I told him] just little stuff, like stay focused, stay grounded. Don’t get too excited and don’t let the crowd get to you,” Akowe said. 

“I told him to just stick to the system.” 

For his part, UST assistant coach Peter Martin said Osang’s performance is “a testament of what we do behind the scenes.” 

“Peter was never not a part… he was always a part of the team. We have two FSAs and he's the other one, and it turned out well for today,” Martin said. 

“So, he's going to give us problems in the future [on who to field in games], to coach Pido and the managers and the rest. Pero, we're so happy with the way he performed today and we’re looking forward to really giving him another opportunity,” he added. 

Martin stressed that Osang playing is due to the matchup with UE, who usually employs a run-and-gun style of play. 

The deputy coach looked back on their previous matchup with UE, where UST led by a huge margin before the Red Warriors sliced the deficit to six with 3:12 left. 

“The first time we played them, they were running and running. And we said that we needed an FSA who would match the energy,” Martin said. 

“So, we know that this guy will give energy to us. And secondly, this is a second game of a three-game stretch. We have Ateneo on Sunday. We want to use whoever FSA we're going to use for that game to be fresher than if we played a three-game stretch,” he added. 

With two elimination games remaining in the season, UST is knocking on the door of the Final Four, just half a game behind joint-third Far Eastern University and La Salle. 

The Tigers will face Ateneo on Sunday in what could be the most crucial matchup of the season.