UE Red Warriors break losing skid with win over UST Growling Tigers
UE 72 – UST 62
For the past couple of games, UE fans have been subjected to heartbreaking losses. They saw their hero, their star, Roi Sumang, fall time and time again in agonizing defeats. On Wednesday, the UE Red Warriors were coming off a four-game losing streak and faced the daunting task of defanging the UST Growling Tigers. Now for the Tigers, they too had a lot to prove coming into yesterday’s game. After losing to Ateneo and then to the defending champs DLSU, they had to win against UE to prove that they were still Final Four contenders
With a game that had a lot riding in the balance, the Red Warriors won defiantly, 72-62, with the lead reaching a high of 29 before UST made it more respectable. Emil Palma led the way for the Red Warriors with 14 points and Charles Mammie displayed another monster game with 12 points and 13 boards.
Roi Sumang
The Tigers were missing their main man in the middle, Karim Abdul, due to a viral infection. Their lone bright spot was their veteran leader Aljon Mariano who had 21 points and 10 boards. Kevin Ferrer had another horrible shooting game with 12 points while shooting 29 percent from the field.
As in most of their previous games, UE got off to a hot start. They leaned heavily on their full-court pressure and forced UST into a ton of early turnovers. The host school opened up a 19-11 lead in the first, but it was really in the second quarter when they were able to separate themselves.
To say that the Tigers had difficulty scoring in the second quarter would be an understatement. They found it so hard to put the ball in the hoop that it made you think that there was an invisible Marc Pingris shadowing the ring. They just couldn’t make a basket. When they finally did score in the quarter, it was off a Mariano free throw with under two minutes left before halftime. UST was only able to get four points in the entire second period, while UE had 13.
Dan Alberto
In the second half, fears of a UE meltdown loomed. The fans knew it, UST knew it, and even UE themselves knew that the second half could mean a totally different story. But then again, this time was different. After three quarters, UE not only maintained the lead but they even grew it to a 60-31 smashing. The Growling Tigers tried to fight back as they opened a 14-0 run in a span of about three minutes in the final period. The fans in the gold and black section were probably wondering “where was this in the first quarter?!”
The Red Warriors stood their ground however. They answered with their own run and they were able to squash any hope of a UST comeback. With their win, they are now tied for fifth place and more importantly, they now have a lot of confidence heading in the second round.
Pictures by Vyn Radovan
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