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UST Rallies in Crucial Stretch to Defeat La Salle, 84-93

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Basketball games usually come down to who hits the loudest run when the air is thinnest.

On Saturday night, that belonged to UST. La Salle had its look—up 68–56 in the third, Mason Amos going supernova with a personal 9-point heater, Earl Abadam cashing in another three with 4:44 left.

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That was the peak of the mountain for the Green Archers.

After that? Just cliffs.

The Tigers of España went teeth-bared and clawed back, brick by brick. Nic Cabanero, Colin Akowe, and Amiel Acido strung together a 10–0 run that erased the gap and tied it at 70 with 1:31 left in the third. From there, the fourth quarter was all black and gold thunder.

The turning point? Vhoris Marasigan’s flagrant on Kyle Paranada. That whistle flipped the game, giving UST its first lead at 77–76 with 8:14 left. Once it was tied at 79, UST slammed the door. Paranada knifed in a side-step layup, Acido drilled a three, and suddenly it was 84–79. Paranada’s free throws pushed it to seven. Doy Dungo did splash one transition three to trim it to 85–82, but that was La Salle’s last gasp.

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The finish was ruthless. Akowe bullying inside, Forthsky Padrigao steady at the stripe, and Cabanero—who racked up 27—piling it on. That 8–0 dagger sealed it at 93–82 with just over a minute to play. Final score: UST 93, La Salle 84.

La Salle had their moments early. Jacob Cortez opened like a flamethrower, dropping 10 of La Salle’s first 14 points. Mike Phillips and Kean Baclaan steadied the interior, and after Q1 the Archers had a firm grip of the game at 27–22.

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UST hung around through Akowe’s grind and Jelo Crisostomo’s shot-making. By halftime, it was 49–45, thanks to Gian Gomez’s runner.

But the second half flipped the script. Motor Mike? Just three attempts, zero field goals in second 20 minutes. Cortez scored five and Baclaan laid an egg after the break. Meanwhile, Akowe grew monstrous: 12 second-half points, shutting off La Salle’s paint attack and owning the rim. What looked like his foul-troubled undoing in the first half became his defensive masterpiece in the second.

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This is what UST coach Pido Jarencio got right—when La Salle’s threes dried up, they had nowhere else to go. UST, on the other hand, spread the floor with multiple threats. With Paranada, Padrigao, Acido, Crisostomo, plus Akowe’s gravity inside, Cabanero finally found freedom to go cook. And cook he did, in a 27-point explosion.

When the smoke cleared, UST wasn’t just surviving La Salle—they had beaten two championship squads of Season 87 with a 20-point spanking of UP.  They look less like a nice story now, and more like the solid frontrunners holding the torch, and primed to dominate. DSC08121

For the Taft Archers, they need to recover quick with their Wednesday encounter with the rebuilding Far Easter U. 

For now, Coach Topex needs to be therapist Topex for the wounded greens to pick up the shattered pieces and resume their title drive this Season 88.   

ANIMO LA SALLE.

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