Games Tomorrow
(MoA Arena)
2 p.m. — UE vs Adamson
4 p.m. — UP vs UST
 
University of Santo Tomas came charging back from 19 points down, anchored on a comebacking cager who confirmed Ateneo coach Norman Black’s fears as the Tigers’ biggest threat, and eked out a 71-70 victory yesterday that snapped the España-based school’s 12-game losing skein against the four-time defending champions in the UAAP men’s basketball competitions at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Al John Mariano unloaded 13 of his team-high 21 points in a pivotal 29-11 third quarter assault that turned the game around for the Tigers at 58-54 after trailing by as many as 19 points (20-39) in the second quarter. The 6-foot-3 forward, who missed out last season because of an injury, also collared 13 rebounds to complete a sterling return to the UST fold.
That upset win took the limelight out of De La Salle U’s 67-59 thumping of University of the East in the second game that gave the Green Archers the early lead in the team standings with their second straight win. The Red Warriors remained winless after two starts.
Unlike their first game debacle against Far Eastern University last Saturday wherein the Tigers crumbled in the crucial stretch to surrender a 72-73 decision, UST’s veterans Jeric Teng and Cameroonian import Karim Abdul kept them intact in that last 4:06 by combining for all of their last nine points to escape with the win.
It was the first win by the Tigers over the Blue Eagles after 12 straight losses dating back to the 70th season of UAAP in 2007. Both teams are now tied with 1-1 win-loss records.
“Law of averages finally caught up. Hindi naman tayo lagi umiiyak at naghihinagpis. Darating rin ang araw na liliwanag din,” said a relieved UST coach Pido Jarencio. “By one point or 20 points, we will take the win.”
And it was as if Black, himself, foretold of Mariano’s potentials to take control of a game.
“The number one thing for me is how to stop Mariano. No one is talking about him but he is consistent. So we have to slow him down,” Black said in a pre-game interview.
True enough, Mariano made a reliable foreseer out of Black when he led that third quarter assault that saw him string up 11 straight points that powered the Tigers from a 29-43 halftime deficit and seize the initiative for good at 58-54, going into the final 10 minutes of the game.
The Tigers even stretched that lead to 62-54 behind baskets by Mariano and Kim Lo at the start of the last quarter.
But sophomore guard Kiefer Ravena and Nico Salva quickly replied with four straight points for Ateneo for a 58-62 count, a temporary threat doused by Teng who hit a triple and an 18-foot jumper against a basket by Greg Slaughter to keep the Tigers ahead with a 67-60 cushion, with 3:12 on the gameclock.
Then came Abdul’s heroics. His two charities and a one-on-one drive past the 7-foot Slaughter negated a pair of charities by the Ateneo giant and a triple by Juami Tiongson as the Tigers went into the last 4.3 seconds protecting that 71-70 lead.