Growling Tigers face uphill climb with Kevin Ferrer out for two weeks

With key wingman Kevin Ferrer out for at least two weeks as he recuperates from a fractured left hand, University of Santo Tomas is facing a more daunting task of turning its fortunes around in the UAAP Season 77 men’s basketball tournament.

The Growling Tigers immediately found out how miserable life is without the 6-foot-5 Ferrer on Saturday night when they absorbed a 55-66 defeat to Far Eastern U at the Mall of Asia Arena, which allowed the Tamaraws to forge a three-way tie atop leaderboard with defending champion La Salle and Ateneo with identical 7-2 marks.

Dressed in bright yellow polo shirt and black pants, Ferrer could only watch from the team’s bench, his left arm in a sling, as the Tamaraws quickly went for the kill behind their unforgiving defense.

Aside from avenging a stinging 67-69 defeat in their initial meeting last July 20 when Ferrer exploded for a season-high 18 points, FEU also sent UST into the company of host University of the East at fifth to sixth spots with similar 4-5 cards.

“Day-to-day,” answered Ferrer when asked about the prognosis of his injury after emerging from the team’s dugout. “Tinitignan pa ng mga doctors. Probably, two weeks.”

Both Ferrer and UST coach Bong dela Cruz disclosed the injury was sustained following a “freak accident” with veteran center Paolo Pe during their practice last Tuesday. Ferrer eventually went under the knife and has been advised to let his injured hand rest for at least two weeks. “Natukod ko, parang gano’n,” said the fourth-year forward.

Without Ferrer, who has been averaging 9.6 points, 5.25 rebounds and 1.4 assists in their first eight games, the Tigers’ offense sputtered as they shot only 30.6% from the field, including a horrendous 3-of-22 from three-point distance.

Even Tamaraws coach Nash Racela admitted how big the loss of Ferrer was for UST. “Of course, malaking bagay pagkawala niya, especially nu’ng first round siya 'yung tumalo sa’min—‘yung dalawang three points. Malaking bagay na wala siya. Siguro more on confidence na ibibigay sa’min, maybe sa pagbawas ng confidence on their part. Ang hirap 'pag nawawalan ka ng (key) player,” he said.

Dela Cruz echoed Racela’s observation, saying: “Kevin Ferrer is Kevin Ferrer. Malaking tulong siya defensively and offensively."

While admitting he’s eager to help the Tigers, Ferrer is confident his teammates can find ways to fill up his slack as they try to boost their Final Four bid, starting against University of the Philippines on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

“Malaki pa rin ‘yung chance namin. Mayroon pa rin naman. May tiwala ako sa team namin. Paghihirapan namin ‘yun,” he said.