UST NIPS SAN BEDA, SNARES FIRST FINALS SLOT

UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas (UST) made an explosive second-half assault to turn back San Beda College, 63-60, and clinched the first finals slot in the 2012 Philippine Collegiate Champions League Final Four on Friday at the Arena in San Juan City.

Aljon Mariano once again proved his worth by churning out 16 points and six rebounds to lead the Growling Tigers to an unblemished 2-0 record in the Final Four.

“We just played aggressively especially on defense. We’re in high spirits after losing in the UAAP [University Athletic Association of the Philippines] finals. We want this one,” said Mariano.

Cameroonian Karim Abdul added double-double figures of 12 points and 12 rebounds while Jeric Fortuna chipped in just four points but hauled down 12 rebounds.

The Growling Tigers got a total of 51 rebounds compared to the 32 boards of the Red Lions.

Earlier, five- peat UAAP cham- pion Ateneo de Manila University overwhelmed Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. titlist Southwestern University ( SWU), 96- 78, to stay in hunt for one of the two finals berths.

Slotman Greg Slaughter poured in 18 points highlighted by a couple of slam dunks. He also grabbed three rebounds and had one shot block.

“We’re a little bit rusty but we’re able to get a good result. We just need more time to play better,” said the 6- foot- 11 Slaughter, a former University of the Visayas stalwart.

The Red Lions (1-1) and the Blue Eagles ( 1- 1) will be clashing on Sunday at 4 p.m. to determine the second finalist while UST battles SWU in a no- bearing game at 2 p.m. SWU (0-2) will face the loser of San Beda-Ateneo game in a battle-for-third match.