The University of Santo Tomas (UST) opened the 82nd UAAP men’s basketball season with a 95-82 win over the University of the East (UE) yesterday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Rhenz Abando finished with 22 points, including five triples, for UST; while Soulemane Chabi Yo earned a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Down by five points midway in the first period, UST leaned on consecutive points by Abando and Sherwin Concepcion to take a 27-19 edge. UE then rallied to within six in the second but shots from Abando and Chabi Yo gave UST a 51-39 halftime edge.
UST went on a run in the third period on baskets from Abando, Yo, Brent Paraiso, and rookie Vince Cuajao as their lead widened to its largest at 23. UE, however, countered with a huge fourth quarter rally behind rookie Harvey Pagsanjan and Rey Suerte to narrow their deficit to 90-80 but a triple by Negrense point guard Mark Nonoy and free throws from Paraiso sealed the win for UST.
In the second game, the University of the Philippines flirted with disaster before pulling off a 61-55 victory over Far Eastern University./ASC, WDJ