LITO A. TACUJAN/ 20 • Tigers ground Eagles; Archers seize solo lead

University of Santo Tomas and comebacking Aljon Mariano showed that Ateneo coach Norman Black has indeed a reason to be wary of them as the Tigers hacked out a come-from-behind 71-70 victory yesterday in UAAP Season 75 men’s basketball tournament at the S

Editor • Games tomorrow (MOA Arena)

UE vs AdU 2 p.m. –

UP vs UST 4 p.m. –

Assistant Editor • FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2012 •

By OLMIN LEYBA

Mariano, who sat out last season due to ankle injury but who has caught Black’s eye with consistent play in the summer, banged in 13 of his game-high 21 points in the third quarter as the Tigers charged back from as many as a 19-point deficit (20-39) to score their first win against the Eagles after 12 straight losses since 2007.

“Finally, lady luck smiled on us,” UST coach Pido Jarencio, whose blood pressure actually shot up to 140 over 100 at halftime, triggered by the lethargic performance of his wards in the first 20 minutes, said in Filipino.

“I think it’s the law of averages. It’s not really fair if we’re always on the losing end everytime we face them. Perhaps today was our time to get out of the hump (against Ateneo),” said Jarencio, whose team caught up with their victims at 1-1, behind La Salle’s 2-0 and National U and Far Eastern’s 1-0.

The Green Archers tripped the University of the East Warriors, 67-59, behind a 10-0 windup to seize the solo lead.

“We’re very happy with our record. But it’s still a long way to go. Early in season we’re trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t. We tried different combinations but ultimately we want to get better as the season progresses,” said DLSU coach Gee Abanilla.

Rookie Jeron Teng fired 16 points while LA Revilla added 11 markers, six rebounds for front-running DLSU.

Jovet Mendoza (11 points, four boards), Thomas Torres (seven points, three rebounds) and Arnold Van Opstal (five points, nine caroms) stepped up to offset the limited output of foul-riddled Norbert Torres (three points in 13 minutes).

“We gave up 16 turnover points off our 17 turnovers and that’s something we have to work on. It’s a good thing we survived this game,” said Abanilla.

Roi Sumang (20) and Adrian Santos (14-14) led the way for UE,which lost its

STANDINGS DLSU NU FEU AdU UST UP AdU UE W 2 1 1 L 0 0 0

second straight game.

The 19-year-old Mariano, sidelined by a fractured right ankle last season, outscored the entire Ateneo team, 13-11, in the third period, leading a furious fightback that lifted UST to a 58-54 lead after trailing, 35-49, early in the period.

“It’s been a long time since we beat Ateneo and we feel have our best chance this year,” Mariano, who also pulled down 13 rebounds, said in Filipino. “I’ve long been waiting to play again and I’ve prepared hard so I can make a huge impact upon my return.”

Jeric Teng (16 points) and Karim Abdul (14) took over in the final quarter and made the crucial baskets that kept the Eagles at bay, 69-62. Abdul drove past AdMU’s Greg Slaughter to give UST a 7167 lead then the Tigers surrendered a trey to Ateneo’s Juami Tiongson who turned it into a one-point game, 70-71 with still 4.3 seconds left.

Teng drew a foul from Tiongson, missed both freebies that Slaughter secured but 5-foot-8 Jeric Fortuna tapped the leather out as time expired.

It was a complete reversal for UST, which blew a 13-point lead in a 73-72 loss to Far Eastern on opening day.

“It’s just one game, the season’s not over yet,” said Black, who at the start of the year described UST as the “team to worry about” and Mariano as the player to contain.

“Obviously, we didn’t do a good job on that. But not taking anything away from UST, they played well,” said Black.

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