2008 UAAP Result: UE escapes UST, complete Final 4

The University of the East Red Warriors and its fans heaved a sigh of relief after escaping from a furious comeback that eventually fizzled out of the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers 89 - 87 to complete UAAP Season 71 Final Four cast yesterday at the Philsports Arena.

The Tigers hanging on a slim chance to sneak inside the Final Four, dug themselves a big hole in the third quarter, launched an improbable comeback from 22 points down that shocked the Warriors in the fourth quarter but blew their chance of winning by attempting ill-advised shots when they trim the lead down to 1 and 2.

The big 22 point cushion gained by UE from playing solid basketball in the third quarter and Paul Lee's five crucial points in the midst of the Tiger's rally in the fourth proved to be enough to stem the tide in their favor.

The win officially ousts the Tigers from final four contention and enable the Warriors to avoid complications should they lost.

The Tigers are arguably the heartbreak team of UAAP Season 71 despite having, what I feel is, the best individual player in the league right now - Jervy Cruz. Cruz lacked the consistent support from roster filled with promising rookies and lost starting point guard Cuan early in the season.

The Tigers have failed to win against the Final Four teams, three of which were decided by only 1 or 2 points. Prior to this game, they lost to DLSU on a game-winning tip-in of Maui Villanueva.

Having known their predicament in order to advance in the semis, the Tigers started strong, getting steals that led to easy fastbreak points. UE closed out the quarter with an 11 - 0 run to enjoy a 23 - 19 lead.

Marcy Arellano lead UE in the second period as they erected a 46 - 35 lead going to the halftime break.

UE displayed its deadly form in the third quarter as they padded its lead to as much as 24 points on a Paul Lee basket 74 - 50.

UST showed heart by outscoring UE 16 - 6 in the first four minutes of the payoff period. Coach Pido Jarencio was given a technical foul and was thrown out of the game after complaining a non-call.

If that was a psychological ploy to fire up his boys, Coach Pido did a great job. The incident fired the Tigers more as they forced UE into turnovers and made baskets on the other end.

Paul Lee, who played his best game of the season so far, scored on a nice drive and a trey to somehow derail the Tigers' furious rally, giving UE a 86 - 72 lead. UST responded with 10 straight points, the last on Mirza's trey to inch closer 86 - 82.

A pair of Llagas free throws made it 88 - 82 before Cruz and Cuan scored 7 points to help UST threateningly close 88 - 87 with 34.6 ticks to go.

Zamar turned the ball over by stepping on the sidelines, UE's ninth turnover of the quarter to give UST a chance to take the lead with still 26.2 seconds left. But Bautista shot an ill-advised three which was blocked. Francis Allera also shot a forced trey that led to an Elmer Espiritu recovery.

Espiritu muffed both charities. With 8.8 seconds to go, UST tried to win the game on another Allera trey. When the shot missed, a great sigh of relief came altogether from the UE team and its followers.

In the first game, the Adamson University Soaring Falcons took the De La Salle Green Archers into overtime before losing 84 -79.

DLSU's win ties them with FEU at 10 - 3 win-loss slate. Both teams have a game left, should they both win or loss, they will have a play-off to determine who get the twice-to-beat incentive, virtually having a best-of-three series to enter the finals. A loss by any of the two will relegate it to the number 3 slot.