University of Santo Tomas relied on its late rally and finally ended its nine-year drought against Ateneo via a 74-64 victory in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday evening, Sept. 11.

The Growling Tigers listed their first-ever win against the Blue Eagles since 2015 (Season 78), finally putting an exclamation point after 17 matchups in the eight-school tournament.

Tied at 60 apiece in the fourth quarter, the España-based crew shifted to higher gears in the final stretch courtesy of Nic Cabañero, Forthsky Padrigao and Mo Tounkara, dropping a 12-0 run to get away from the hard-fighting Ateneo.

With the triumph, UST marked its second win while Ateneo absorbed its second straight losses for a 0-2 card.

Tounkara and Gelo Crisostomo also played splendidly as they tallied 16 points and 14 rebounds and 16 and 10, respectively. Late game hero Cabañero put up 11 and Mark Llemit added 10.

The battle was intense as both teams went back-and-forth in the first half, but the Tab Baldwin side gained its momentum and took the lead heading into the halftime.

Joshua Lazaro, Shawn Tuano and Kristian Porter had great production on both ends, bringing Ateneo to the top in the third salvo.

The assault didn’t stop there as Porter knocked down a triple and a deuce and Lazaro with an and-1 play to give the Blue Eagles the advantage, 60-55, in the opening minutes of the fourth frame.

However, that was Ateneo’s final charge as UST – led by Cabañero, Tounkara and Padrigao, who also had nine assists – went off on a blistering 12-0 run to take a 72-60 lead which they safely handled until the final seconds.

Spearheading the fight for Ateneo was Lazaro who scattered 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists while Tuano and Porter punched in 13 and 10 in a losing effort. Jared Bahay, meanwhile, went quiet with three points.

The scores:

UST (74) – Tounkara 16, Crisostomo 16, Cabañero 11, Llemit 10, Padrigao 6, Robinson 6, Paranada 5, Acido 3, Lane 1, Estacio 0, Manaytay 0, Pangilinan 0.
Ateneo (64) – Lazaro 18, Tuano 13, Porter 10, Espinosa 8, Quitevis 4, Ong 4, Bahay 3, Balogun 2, Espina 2, Bongo 0, Edu 0, Reyes 0.
Quarterscores: 18-19, 37-41, 55-52, 74-64