MANILA – University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers flirted with disaster before beating Far Eastern University Tamaraws, 81-71, in the first phase of the step-ladder semifinals of the UAAP Season 82 men’s basketball last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After seeing their 26-point lead trimmed to 65-70 by a furious second half run of the Tamaraws, the Growling Tigers answered back with shots from Henri Lorenzo Subido, Soulemane Chabi Yo and Mark Nonoy to extend the lead to 78-65.
The Tamaraws made its last stand with back-to-back triples to trim the deficit to 78-71 with under a minute to go before Zachary Huang and Brent Paraiso sealed the win for the Tigers with free throws.
Chabi Yo finished the match with double-double 25 points and 11 rebounds, while Paraiso and Subido chipped in 18 and 14 markers, respectively.
With the win, the Growling Tigers advanced to the second phase of the step-ladder semifinals and will face University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, which has a twice-to-beat advantage.
The Growling Tigers were scorching from outside to start the game with triples from Subido and Paraiso. Chabi Yo then went to work inside in the second quarter as the lead reached its largest at 26 points at the half.
For the Tamaraws, Kenneth Tuffin tallied 20 points, while Ljay Gonzales and Hubert Cani chipped in 11 and 10 markers, respectively./PN
