Misplaced Pages

The 2015 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team represented University of Santo Tomas in the 78th season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The men's basketball tournament for the school year 2015-16 began on September 5, 2015 and the host school for the season was the University of the Philippines.

UST made it back to the playoffs after getting eliminated in Season 77. They finished the double round-robin eliminations at first place with 11 wins against 3 losses. The FEU Tamaraws had the same win–loss record but were ranked lower on an inferior -10 quotient. The last time that the Tigers got the top seed was in 1995 when they won their third straight championship. It was also the last time that they won as many as 11 games at the end of eliminations in a season.

They had a twice-to-beat advantage over their Final Four opponent and defending champions, the NU Bulldogs who they defeated in one game to advance to the Finals against FEU. NU has been the Tigers' semifinal opponent for the third time in the last four years. UST became the fifth team in UAAP history to reach the Finals after missing the Final Four playoffs in the previous season.

In Game Two of the Finals series, Kevin Ferrer's 24 points in the third quarter broke the UAAP record for most points scored in a period. He tied his career-high of 29 points in their 62–56 win over FEU to extend the series to a deciding Game Three. In that game, UST was also able to limit the Tamaraws to their lowest scoring output, as they have not scored lower than 60 points in the season. FEU won the series in three games, ending a decade-long wait to claim their 20th men's basketball championship. The Tigers who had faced FEU in the Finals for the first time since 1979 won both games against them in the elimination rounds.

UST recorded the most three point shots made in the season with 89 for a league-best 31% field goal percentage. They also held the highest free throw conversion of 68.4% among all teams.

Graduating players Ferrer and Ed Daquioag were included in the Mythical team selection during the presentation of awards. Ferrer was chosen back-to-back Player of the Week by the UAAP Press Corps for the duration of September 23–27 and on the week of September 30-October 4, while Daquioag received the citation for the period of September 9–13.

Roster

UST Growling Tigers roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Year High School SG 5 Janus Kyle Christian Suarez  6'2" (1.88m) 2nd Ateneo de Manila PG 6 Sheak Jamil Sheriff, Jr. 5'9" (1.75m) 4th Loyola Catholic Secondary School PF 7 Kevin Ferrer (C) 6'4" (1.93m) 5th University of Santo Tomas SG 8 Eduardo Daquioag, Jr. 6'1" (1.85m) 5th RTU Laboratory High School SG 9 Dean Marvin Lee 5'8" (1.73m) 1st Far Eastern University–Diliman PG 10 Osama Said Abdurasad 5'10" (1.78m) 1st Kaunlaran High School C 11 Enrique Caunan, Jr. 6'5" (1.96m) 1st Colegio de San Juan de Letran PG 12 Janrey Garrido 5'6" (1.68m) 2nd Hope Christian High School SF 13 Zachary Lance Eden Huang 6'4" (1.93m) 1st Sacred Heart School–Ateneo de Cebu SF 14 Mario Emmanuel Bonleon, Jr. 6'3" (1.91m) 1st La Salle Greenhills C 15 Jeepy Faundo 6'6" (1.98m) 3rd José Rizal University PF 16 Justin Arana 6'5" (1.96m) 1st Basud National High School PG 17 Henri Lorenzo Subido  5'9" (1.75m) 2nd De La Salle Santiago Zobel School SF 18 Louie Philippe Vigil 6'3" (1.91m) 4th José Rizal University PF 19 Kent Jefferson Lao 6'4" (1.93m) 4th Saint Stephen's High School C 20 Karim Abdul 6'6" (1.98m) 5th Sta. Clara International Academy	Head coach Segundo dela Cruz, III Assistant coach(es) Renaldo Baena Senen Dueñas Alvin Patrimonio Ma. Genevieve Francisco Strength & conditioning coach(es) Emmanuel Calipes Kris Anthony Agarao Team manager Kenneth Causon Eduardo Villanueva, Jr. Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster

Depth chart

Roster changes

Subtractions

Pos.	No.	Nat.	Player	Height	Year	High school	Notes
SF	5		Kim Kaizen Lo	6' 1"	5th	St. Jude Catholic School	Graduated
PG	9		Levi dela Cruz, II	5' 7"	2nd	Nazareth School of National University	Transferred to Jose Maria College
SF	10		Aljon Mariano	6' 3"	5th	San Beda College–Rizal	Graduated
SF	11		Regie Boy Basibas	6' 3"	2nd	Arellano University High School	Out due to groin injury
PF	12		Jon Cornelius Macasaet	6' 3"	3rd	San Sebastian College-Recoletos	Out due to ACL injury
C	13		Paulo Lorenzo Pe	6' 4"	5th	Ateneo de Manila	Graduated
PF	14		Raymart Angelo Sablan	6' 4"	2nd	UP Integrated School	Transferred to University of the Philippines
SF	16		Alfren Gayosa	6' 2"	2nd	San Sebastian College-Recoletos	Transferred to San Sebastian College-Recoletos

Additions

Pos.	No.	Nat.	Player	Height	Year	High school	Notes
SG	5		Janus Kyle Christian Suarez	6' 2"	2nd	Ateneo de Manila	Transferred from University of the Philippines
SG	9		Dean Marvin Lee	5' 8"	1st	Far Eastern University–Diliman	Rookie
PG	10		Osama Said Abdurasad	5' 10"	1st	Kaunlaran High School	Rookie
C	11		Enrique Caunan, Jr.	6' 5"	1st	Colegio de San Juan de Letran	Rookie
PG	12		Janrey Garrido	5' 6"	2nd	Hope Christian High School	Returning from Season 75
SF	13		Zachary Lance Eden Huang	6' 4"	1st	Sacred Heart School–Ateneo de Cebu	Rookie
SF	14		Mario Emmanuel Bonleon, Jr.	6' 3"	1st	La Salle Greenhills	Promoted from Team B
PF	16		Justin Arana	6' 5"	1st	Basud National High School	Rookie

Recruiting class

Coaching staff

Estong Ballesteros, the Growling Tigers' assistant coach for offense and trainer has resigned from his post. He had informed head coach Bong dela Cruz of his decision to concentrate on coaching the Philippine National Police basketball team in the MBL and as deputy to Lawrence Chongson at Tanduay in the PBA D-League.

Rene Baena was hired to replace Ballesteros. The veteran coach who was a member of UST's track and field team was an assistant coach of the Adamson Baby Falcons juniors' basketball team. He has coached the juniors teams of La Salle Greenhills, Ateneo U13, and the San Beda Red Cubs in the past. He has also served as an assistant coach of the UE Red Warriors team that made it to the UAAP Finals in 2009.

Four-time Philippine Basketball Association MVP Alvin Patrimonio has also come on board as consultant and trainer of the team's big men.

Injuries

Forwards Joco Macaseat and Regie Boy Basibas were excluded from the roster with both suffering from year-long injuries. Macasaet tore his ACL while lifting weights in the offseason, while Basibas had some issues with his groin.

Karim Abdul, Louie Vigil, and Kyle Suarez also fell to various injures in the summer, but all three were able to play in the UAAP. Abdul underwent surgery on his left knee in April to have his bone spurs removed. Vigil failed to suit for the Tigers in the Filoil Flying V tournament as he got sidelined by a hamstring injury, and while Suarez was able to play after recovering from an ACL injury in December, he reinjured it during a game against the De La Salle Green Archers in the first round.

Mario Bonleon and Renzo Subido also missed games during the season. Bonleon hurt his finger during practice and was not able to play against the Adamson Falcons in the first round, while Subido also had an ACL injury before their Finals series with FEU.

Schedule and results

Preseason tournaments

UAAP games

Elimination games were played in a double round-robin format. All games were aired on ABS-CBN Sports and Action and Balls. The second game of the Finals series was aired on ABS-CBN and Balls.

Postseason tournament

The Philippine Collegiate Champions League games were aired on ABS-CBN Sports and Action.

UAAP statistics

Eliminations

Playoffs

Awards

Players drafted into the PBA

Kevin Ferrer and Ed Daquioag, both members of the Gilas national team training pool applied for the 2016 PBA draft and were selected through a special draft separate from the regular rookie applicants on October 30, 2016.

Ferrer was selected by the Tim Cone-led Barangay Ginebra San Miguel team as the second pick, while Daquioag ended up with the Norman Black-coached Meralco Bolts for the special draft's sixth overall pick.

References

1. Riego, Norman Lee Benjamin. "UAAP, "league of national athletes," has returned". ABS-CBN Sports. Retrieved 5 Sep 2015.
2. Mariano, Paolo. "UAAP By the Numbers: Week 11". ABS-CBN Sports. Retrieved 16 Nov 2015.
3. "UST books Finals date with FEU after dethroning NU". CNN Philippines. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 22 Nov 2015.
4. Mariano, Paolo. "UAAP by the Numbers: Week 12". ABS-CBN Sports. Retrieved 23 Nov 2015.
5. Bracher, Jane. "Ferrer sizzles as UST beats FEU to extend UAAP Finals series". Rappler. Retrieved 28 Nov 2015.
6. ^ Riego, Norman Lee Benjamin. "Decade-long search ends as FEU seizes 20th championship". ABS-CBN Sports. Retrieved 2 Dec 2015.
7. ^ "Ferrer shoots way into Player of the Week honors". ABS-CBN Sports. Retrieved 28 Sep 2015.
8. ^ Wires, The. "UST Tigers sustain hot streak and Kevin Ferrer claims second straight Player of the Week award". SPIN.ph. Retrieved 5 Oct 2015.
9. ^ "Daquioag's Player of the Week nod caps off UST's perfect week". ABS-CBN Sports. Retrieved 14 Sep 2015.
10. Abello, A.P.; Dioquino, D.R.M.; Saynes, J.D.G.; Basco, K.C.G. "UST assistant coach Ballesteros quits". The Varsitarian. Retrieved 19 Dec 2014.
11. Henson, Joaquin. "Sporting chance: Welcome to winter". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 11 Dec 2005.
12. Fajardo, John Chester. "PBA legend Patrimonio joins Tigers' training staff". The Varsitarian. Retrieved 30 Jul 2015.
13. Terrado, Reuben. "UST Tigers forward Jan Macasaet making up for lost time after a season wasted by injury". SPIN.ph. Retrieved 13 Sep 2016.
14. Terrado, Reuben. "Eager to make mark after missing last season, Regie Boy Basibas shows glimpse of what he can do for UST". SPIN.ph. Retrieved 17 Sep 2016.
15. Ganglani, Naveen. "UST's Karim Abdul still recovering from knee surgery in April". Rappler. Retrieved 1 Oct 2015.
16. Abello, Angelica. "Daquioag carries UST past Cobras in FilOil". The Varsitarian. Retrieved 3 Jun 2015.
17. Fajardo, John Chester. "New injury feared for UST sniper". The Varsitarian. Retrieved 2 Oct 2015.
18. Basco, Karl Cedrick. "Renzo Subido relishes up-and-down stint with UST". ABS-CBN Sports. Retrieved 20 Nov 2019.
19. Terrado, Reuben. "Heavy Bombers overcome Tigers to complete nine-game sweep of Fr. Martin Cup". SPIN.ph. Retrieved 18 Jun 2015.
20. ^ Terrado, Reuben. "UST pair Ferrer, Daquioag join Teng, Aroga and MVP Ravena in UAAP Mythical Team". SPIN.ph. Retrieved 19 Nov 2015.
21. Del Rosario, Paolo. "Blackwater tabs Belo, Ginebra selects Ferrer; Banal first pick of regular draft". CNN Philippines. Archived from the original on 3 November 2016. Retrieved 31 Oct 2016.

• 2015–16 in Philippine college basketball
• UST Growling Tigers basketball team seasons