UST makes case for early contender after blowing out defending champions UP: takeaways

The 88th season of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) is underway with the basketball tournament’s first week ending in stunning fashion with the revamped UST Growling Tigers blowing out the defending champions UP Fighting Maroons, 87-67, at their home court, the Quadricentennial Pavilion on Sunday, Sept. 21.

UST’s new Foreign Student-Athlete (FSA) Collins Akowe made his presence known in the seniors division after tallying a weekend-high 29 points and 17 rebounds to propel the Tigers to their first win against UP since the Season 82 Final Four in 2019.

With starting guard Forthsky Padrigao sidelined due to suspension from his unsportsmanlike foul in their Final Four clash last season, Kyle Paranada stepped up and tallied 19 markers, with 14 coming in the first half, on an efficient 55.6% from the field.

Akowe, a former juniors’ division MVP and first-ever Best FSA, showed he can still dominate at the college level as UP’s big men Gani Stevens, Francis Nnoruka, and Sean Alter tried their hardest to stop the FSA but couldn’t without fouling.

Only three Fighting Maroons scored in double digits, with Mark Belmonte leading the front with 12 points, while senior Harold Alarcon and Jacob Bayla tallied 11 points apiece.

A revamped UST is showing signs of becoming a legitimate contender 

Before the opener, there were still doubts about what UST was capable of coming off last season’s semifinals push and a preseason marred with collapses. The hosts needed to make a statement at their home turf, and made a statement they did.

Pido Jarencio showed he can still build and orchestrate a contender after filling the big man holes they showed last season by bringing in Akowe and Koji Buenaflor. Akowe proved to his former team, NU Bulldogs, that they were wrong in snubbing him for an FSA spot after citing that his game did not translate to the college level. Buenaflor, who was a pivotal piece in UST’s juniors’ division team that toppled Akowe and the Bulldogs in the finals last season, had high expectations before the season, and quickly answered those expectations by being a reliable substitute for starting big man Angelo Crisostomo after tallying seven points.

After years of woeful scoring, depth is not a problem anymore for the Tigers. Jarencio’s team-building has allowed him to finally take the scoring duties off of star Nic Cabanero when needed with the dominant Akowe. Paranada has shown he can contribute when needed, while Amiel Acido and Mark Llemit are on their way to becoming solid two-way players. Let’s not forget that Padrigao will return in the Tigers’ next game against La Salle to open up the floor with his playmaking.

With Akowe on track to become the next great UST FSA, alongside former MVP Soulemane Chabi-Yo and Karim Abdul, and the rest of the team starting to show their identity after seasons of disappointments, it will be hard to dismiss UST as a legitimate contender to topple the league’s UP-La Salle hierarchy.

UP looks lost on offense without J.D. Cagulangan

Former skipper J.D. Cagulangan’s absence was heavily felt by UP, which lacked any consistent offensive output in the opener. The defending champions made only 27 of their 74 tries, while also giving up 52 rebounds to the Tigers compared to their 39 boards.

Alarcon had a fiery stretch in the second quarter to trim UST’s 23-point lead to single digits, but eventually lost steam in the second half. The rest of the so-called “Maroon 5” had little impact offensively, with Gerry Abadiano, Terrence Fortea, Janjan Felicilda, and Reyland Torres combining for only 16 points. Expectations were high for transferee Rey Remoga,t but the former Red Warrior had a quiet game with five points on 2/6 (33.3%) shooting.

Despite the off-night offensively, State-U kept their defensive identity intact, keeping UST on their toes the whole game with their suffocating press that induced 21 points off of the Tigers’ 13 turnovers.

An opening loss isn’t everything, but the Fighting Maroons will have to figure out who they can trust offensively while at the same time looking to fix their deficiency in the paint to at least have a solid defense of their UAAP title.

Meanwhile earlier in the day, NU started their Season 88 campaign, dominating the UE Red Warriors, 72-57, courtesy of Jake Figueroa, who recorded 16 points, 3 assists, and 6 rebounds. UE’s star FSA Precious Momowei tallied a double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds.

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