By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

THE stepladder semifinals of UAAP Season 82 goes the full route after the fourth-seeded University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers defeated the second seeds University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, 89-69, on Sunday to force a rubber match later this week for a spot in the finals.

At a twice-to-win disadvantage entering the game, the Tigers negated such handicap with a thorough collective pounding of the Maroons in front of a large crowd of 17,722 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, to come to within one win away of making back to the finals of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.

It was a close fight early on with the two teams fighting to a 7-5 count, and the Tigers on top, with 5:50 to go in the opening quarter.

UST then finished the period strong, outscoring UP, 12-8, to hold a 19-13 advantage after the first 10 minutes.

On the lead of CJ Cansino the Tigers continued to hold sway at the beginning of the second quarter, up, 27-15, by the mandatory TV timeout midway.

Kobe Paras and Bright Akhuetie tried to tow the Maroons to a fight back but with limited success as the Tigers did not relent on their attack, building an even bigger lead of 17 points, 41-24, at the half.

The Maroons came out with more aggressiveness in the third with Juan Gomez De Liano spearheading a 7-2 run to push Up to within 12 points, 43-31, at the eighth-minute mark.

Much like what they had been doing all game long, UST would find ways to stave off the UP challenge.

Rookie Mark Nonoy exploded and helped the Tigers to a 7-0 blast in the next two minutes to stretch their lead to 19 points, 50-31.

UP was not to be deterred by it, keeping the pressure on UST to stay within striking distance, 60-47, heading into the fourth.

Gomez De Liano and Ricci Rivero had UP charging to begin the payoff canto.

UST though still dictated the contest, ahead by nine points, 68-59, with five minutes left to play.

It was still a nine-point advantage for UST, 72-63, with 3:13 to go.

The Tigers further padded their lead with back-to-back triples from Sherwin Concepcion and Nonoy, pushing the count to 78-63, after just less than a minute.

Season most valuable player Soulemane Chabi Yo made it a 17-point lead, 80-63, with a basket at the two-minute mark.

From there it was all UST with the Tigers putting the finishing touches on their way to the victory.

Chabi Yo and Rhenz Abando led the Tigers with 17 points each with the former adding 15 boards.

Nonoy had 16 points while Concepcion and Cansino added 12 and 11 points, respectively.

For UP it was Gomez De Liano who led with 20 points with Akhuetie following him up with 19 points and 18 rebounds.

“It’s all about execution both on offense and defense. The players followed our game plan and my instructions and it really paid off in this game,” said UST coach Aldin Ayo after the game as he discussed what did it for them in the victory.

The do-or-die match between UP and UST is on Wednesday also at the Big Dome.

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