Fighting Maroons outplay Growling Tigers, 74-73

THE UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers fell short against the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons, 73–74, in UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament last September 10 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

Tied with 71 points in the last quarter, UST’s Marvin Lee banked two free throws that made the team two-point leading against Fighting Maroons.

After UP’s timeout and with only five seconds remaining, Paul Desiderio took a game-winning three-point shot and finish the match with the final score 74–73.

Cameroonian Steve Akomo’s dunk capped a 13-3 run in the third quarter, where the Tigers were down by 11 points, tied up the score to 49.

Lee led UST with 20 points, while Akomo had a double-double performance, accumulating a double-digit number total in two of the five statistical categories, with 15 points and 14 rebounds.

UP’s top player Desiderio scored 17 points and nine rebounds.

"Nung hindi pa nags-start 'yung season, lagi kong sinasabi na papasok kami sa final four. Gusto ko at least [sa] first game palang, mapakita na namin na kaya namin," Desiderio said in a post-game interview.

The Growling Tigers will next face the Adamson University Soaring Falcons on Saturday, September 16, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City.