Men’s and women’s rematch in UAAP Season 87 basketball finals

Games on Sunday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
10 a.m. – UST vs FEU-D (JHS Final Four)
1 p.m. – NU vs UST (Women’s Finals)
5:30 p.m. – DLSU vs UP (Men’s Finals)

IT’S a double rematch in the UAAP Season 87 basketball finals.

Like De La Salle University  (DLSU) and University of the Philippines (UP) in the men’s side, reigning champion University of Santo Tomas (UST) likewise arranged a finale date with former titlist and unbeaten National University (NU) in the women’s basketball finale after a 71-59 knockout win over Adamson University on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Tigresses lived up to their lofty billing as the No. 2 seed, racing to a fiery 21-4 start en route to a convincing victory against the Lady Falcons in the stepladder playoffs.

The Lady Falcons climbed to the second phase of the ladder after a 59-53 overtime win against Ateneo Blue Eagles last weekend but the Tigresses proved just too much for them.

Santo Tomas and NU, which advanced straight into the best-of-three finals via 14-0 sweep of the two-round eliminations, begin their titular showdown on Sunday before the La Salle-UP duel in the men’s division at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Tigresses unseated the Lady Bulldogs from a seven-year reign last year with a thrilling three-game series win marked by a 71-69 win in the decider.

Mythical Team member Kent Pastrana stamped her class with 23 points, including 13 in the first half, 16 rebounds and eight assists for a near triple-double performance.

Ms. Pastrana added two steals and a block in only 29 minutes of play, CJ Maglupay chipped in 13 points while Tacky Tacatac and Brigette Santos contributed 10 each.

“It’s all total team effort and at the end of the day, our defense dictated the game, especially in the second half,” said coach Haydee Ong.

Santo Tomas, despite a hot start, was outscored 25-11 in the second period to trail by 35-37 at the break before making Adamson bleed for only 22 points the rest of the way.

Elaine Etang and Oluwakemi Adeshina scored 12 points each in the commendable bronze-medal finish of the Lady Falcons mentored by former Falcon Ryan Monteclaro.

In junior high school basketball, top-seeded University of the East dethroned champion National U-Nazareth School, 85-64, to barge into the finals as No. 3 Santo Tomas forced a knockout match against No. 2 Far Eastern U-Diliman in the other semifinal pairing, 84-75. — John Bryan Ulanday

The Scores:

UST 71 – Pastrana 23, Maglupay 13, Tacatac 10, Santos 10, Ambos 7, Danganan 4, Sierba 4, Soriano 0, Bron 0, Relliquette 0, Amatong 0, Pescador 0.

Adamson 59 – Etang 12, Adeshina 12, A. Alaba 9, Apag 7, Agojo 6, Limbago 4, Bajo 4, Padilla 3, Manlimos 2, Meniano 0, Mazo 0, E. Alaba 0, Ornopia 0.

Quarterscores: 21-12, 35-37, 56-48, 71-59.