The third-year forward put matters into his own hands after nailing back-to-back threes including two threes in the final frame which was enough to end his team’s two-game skid.

“I give credit to my players, di sila bumitaw. Ang hirap ng laban pero down the stretch, nakita natin yung lakas namin kaya nakuha namin ang panalo,” said coach Jinino Manansala. 

“Ito naman para sa Thomasian community. Every game, we dedicate sa Thomasian community. Ito na po yung hinihintay nila na panalo. Long way to go. Our families, malayo kami sa kanila. Salamat sa dasal,” he added.

Tied at 62-all with 3:26 in the fourth canto, Concepcion fired back-to-back threes that gave the Growling Tigers a 70-62 lead at the final two-minute mark.

With UE struggling to find a basket, Dave Ando increased UST’s lead to 72-62 with 1:10 remaining before Nic Cabanero sealed the win with free throws that put the Red Warriors to its third straight loss.

Concepcion led the Growling Tigers with a career-best 25 points along with five rebounds and three assists, Nic Cabanero added 12 points and seven rebounds, and Christian Manaytay finished with 12 points and four boards.

On the UE side, Orin Catacutan top-scored the Red Warriors with 17 points and five rebounds followed by Harvey Pagsanjan’s 10 points while Clint Escamis added nine points and five rebounds.

Both schools will return to action on Saturday with UE going up against UP at 1:00 PM while UST facing Adamson University at 4:00 PM.

The Scores:

UST 74 – Concepcion 25, Cabanero 12, Manaytay 12, Santos 10, Fontanilla 8, Yongco 3, Ando 2, M. Pangilinan 2, Manalang 0, Garing 0, Mantua 0, Samudio 0, Gomez de Liano 0, Canoy 0.

UE 62 – Catacutan 17, Pagsanjan 10, Escamis 9, Antiporda 7, Lorenzana 5, N. Paranada 4, Beltran 4, Guevarra 4, Sawat 2, K. Paranada 0, Tulabut 0, Je. Cruz 0, Villanueva 0.

Quarters: 25-24, 36-39, 50-53, 74-62.