Rey Remogat and rookie Precious Momowei delivered double-double performances to power University of the East past University of Santo Tomas, 80-70, in the opening day of the first round of the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament on Saturday, Sept. 30, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. 

The Red Warriors used a dominant third-quarter run and even led by as much as 19 points to blast the Growling Tigers for a 1-0 winning start. 

UE's breakthrough player last season Remogat led the balanced effort with a team-high 21 points and 11 assists including three steals, while Momowei had a promising debut with 17 points and 15 rebounds. 

Abdul Sawat breached the double-digit mark in the first half and wound up with 15 points while another discovery in Jack Cruz-Dumont also had 16 points to his name.

The Red Warriors opened the first quarter with an 8-0 run and even held a 13-point advantage before UST finally found its footing and pulled itself within one, 22-21, which was the last time they ever came close. 

UE continued the assault and led through the match until the final buzzer despite UST's fightback in the closing quarter after Ivanne Calum's three-pointer that trimmed the deficit to single-digit, 75-67, with 2:03 to go. 

However, it didn't take long for Cruz-Dumont to respond with a shot from the outside to bring the lead back to double-digit. 

Despite Migs Pangilinan's last-ditch effort with a three-point shot with 25.5 seconds left, Cruz-Dumont iced the game with two free throws. 

"So happy with the outcome of the game. Actually, we scouted UST kasi alam ko naman binago nila 'yong team nila in the past 10 months. Sabi ko lang sa kanila knowing coach Pido Jarencio is a winning coach and a veteran. They will come out strong and give us a lot of surprises. Sabi ko sa kanila not to give up and they responded well," UE head coach Jack Santiago said. 

Meanwhile, the Pido Jarencio-coached UST carried its losing streak from the previous season which now extended to 14 games in a row. 

Nic Cabanero paced the Growling Tigers with 18 points and eight rebounds on a 6-of-20 shooting, while Christian Manaytay and Pangilinan added 15 and 10 points, respectively, in the losing cause. 

The scores:

UE (80) -- Remogat 21, Momowel 17, Cruz-Dumont 16, Sawat 15, Wilson 6, Lingolingo 3, Alcantara 2, Galang 0, Tulabut  0, Maglupay 0, Gilbuena 0, Fikes 0, Langit 0.

UST (70) -- Cabañero 18, Manaytay 15, Pangilinan 10, Calum 9, Laure 7, Llemit 3, Gesalem 3, Manalang 2, Crisostomo 2, Faye 1, Duremdes 0, Lazarte 0, Moore 0, Ventulan 0, Magdangal 0.

Quarterscores: 22-21, 46-34, 64-48, 80-70