Team captain Abdul Sawat and rookie Precious Momowei led the way as University of the East breezed past University of Santo Tomas, 86-73, in the second round of the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament on Saturday, Oct. 28, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. 

The Red Warriors came out the better side and ended their five-game losing skid to improve 3-6 in the standings. 

Sawat and Momowei delivered 17 points apiece, but the rookie produced 17 rebounds to finish with a double-double outing. 

Ethan Galang, who caught fire from beyond the arc in the closing period on a 3-of-4 shooting, tallied 11 points. 

UE zoomed to its biggest lead of 83-63 in the fourth period on a Momowei layup with 3:47 left to spare. 

Although UST went on a determined 7-0 counter to a manageable gap, 83-70, Nic Cabañero missed a fast break layup which ended the late-minute fightback. 

With under a minute to go, UE’s Rey Remogat was not done with the assault and fired a long-range triple to douse any hope coming from the UST side. 

UE, which is hoping to keep its Final Four dreams alive, swept UST in the two-round elimination. 

Meanwhile, Migs Pangilinan made up for his slack in UST’s 100-69 defeat against La Salle but his 20-point went for naught.  

Cabañero, for his part, provided another sorry double-digit finish of 18 points for the hapless Growling Tigers. 

Since its breakthrough 68-62 win against Far Eastern University, UST absorbed back-to-back losses and slid 1-8 in the standings. 

The scores:

     UE (86) – Momowei 17, Sawat 17, Galang 11, Remogat 9, Fikes 7, Spandonis 6, Tulabut 6, Cruz-Dumont 5, Maglupay 4, Lingolingo 4, Langit 0, Gilbuena 0, Alcantara 0.

     UST (73) – Pangilinan 20, Cabañero 18, Calum 11, Duremdes 7, Manaytay 4, Manalang 3, Crisostomo 3, Ventulan 3, Laure 2, Lazarte 1, Moore 1, Llemit 0.

     Quarterscores: 29-19, 55-46, 67-53, 86-73