UST survive JRU's late-game rally in PCCL
| 12/01/2009 5:35 PM
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MANILA -- Khasim Mirza played “big” for the undersized UST to sneak the Growling Tigers in the Elite Eight by holding off the pesky JRU Heavy Bombers, 64-62, in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) Sweet 16 at the Ormoc Superdome late Monday night.
The 6’4” Mirza, who was forced to play the center after Chris Camus failed to make the Ormoc trip, came through with 10 points in the fourth quarter as the Tigers survived the Heavy Bombers’ late rally.
Mirza and UAAP MVP Dylan Ababou came to UST’s rescue after JRU grabbed the lead, 57-54, on John Agas’ back-to-back triple midway through the final period.
An Ababou cut to the basket gave the lead back to the Tigers, 58-57, but it was Mirza who finished off the job with a 5-point binge in the final 2:10 of the game.
JRU’s offense fell silent since Agas’ last triple in the 4:24 mark of the contest while Ababou and Mirza, who are in their last playing year with UST, seized the opportunity to shine.
Mirza, now also playing for the Philippine Patriots in the Asean Basketball League (ABL), made two free throws then sank a long 3-pointer in the following play as the Tigers roared to a 63-57 lead with 1:36 left.
JRU’s African import Nchotu Njei missed his two free throws but John Lopez scored on a putback to breathe life to JRU, 63-59.
Jeric Fortuna split his charities to make it 64-59 before Lopez fired a triple in the final 2.4 seconds to peg the count.
JRU, however, failed to stop the clock as UST ran away with the victory and set a rematch of the UAAP Final Four against the back-to-back champion Ateneo Blue Eagles.
Mirza finished off with a game-high 23 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including three triples. He also went 8-for-10 at the stripes and grabbed 11 rebounds.
Ababou, also a member of the Smart Gilas-RP Team, had 16 points on top of nine boards and three assists.
Lopez and Marvin Hayes led the Heavy Bombers, who missed the services of regining NCAA MVP John Wilson, with 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Wilson, who decided to skip his final playing year in the NCAA, has not been attending the JRU practices since Vergel Meneses replaced Ariel Vanguardia as the head coach of the team.
Meneses notably used outgoing senior guard Mark Cagoco sparingly in his collegiate coaching debut giving more time to the players he will carry on to the next NCAA season.
The PCCL Elite Eight begins Wednesday at the Ynares Sports Arena in San Juan. By Alder T. Almo
The Scores:
UST 64- Mirza 23, Ababou 16, Fortuna 7, Maliksi 5, Teng 5, Bautista 3, Afuang 3, Mariano 2, Felix 0.
JRU 62 – Lopez 16, Hayes 14, Agas 11, Njei 8, Bulangis 5, Kabigting 3, Apinan 3, Montemayor 2, Gabriel 0, Matute 0, Cagoco 0.
Quarters: 19-17, 33-29, 49-43, 64-62.
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