2017 UST Growling Tigers basketball team

2017 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball
Record
Elims rank	#8
Final rank	#8
2017 record	1-13
Head coach	Rodil Sablan (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Tylon Dar Juan Juben Ledesma Genevieve Francisco
Captain	Marvin Lee (3rd season)

The 2017 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team represented University of Santo Tomas in the 80th season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The men's basketball tournament for the school year 2017-18 began on September 9, 2017 and the host school for the season was Far Eastern University.

The Tigers finished eighth and last at the end of the double-round eliminations for the second straight year, but with a worse record. The team went on a 17-game losing streak that dated back from the 79th season of the UAAP men's basketball tournament, winning only their last assignment to save themselves from having a winless season.

They had a final record for the double-round eliminations of 1 win against 13 losses, the worst for the team in the last 28 years. This is also a new team low in the final four era, beating the previous year's record of 3 wins against 11 losses.

They had an average losing margin of 13.85 points against a single 3 point win for the entire season.

Like the previous year, UST suffered three blowout losses (against FEU by 26 points in the 2nd round, and twice against La Salle by 29 and 35 points in the first and second rounds respectively).

Cameroonian center Steve Akomo led the league in rebounds with a 13.2 per game average.

Roster

UST Growling Tigers - UAAP Season 80 roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Year High School C 0 Akomo, Steve Cedrick P. 6'9" (2.06m) 4th Lycée bilingue de Fondonera, Santchou SF 5 Basibas, Regie Boy 6'3" (1.91m) 3rd Bal-ason National High School PG 7 Sta. Ana, John Jordan M. 6'0" (1.83m) 2nd Nazareth School of National University PG 8 De Guzman, Oliver Wendell 5'8" (1.73m) 2nd Nazareth School of National University SG 9 Lee, Dean Marvin M. (C) 5'8" (1.73m) 3rd Far Eastern University - Diliman SG 10 Romero, Martin Arthur I. 6'0" (1.83m) 1st De La Salle Santiago Zobel School PF 11 Caunan, Jr., Enrique P. 6'5" (1.96m) 3rd Colegio de San Juan de Letran SF 13 Huang, Zachary Lance Eden T. 6'4" (1.93m) 3rd Sacred Heart School – Ateneo de Cebu PG 14 Kwawukumey, Ebenezer Godwin 5'7" (1.7m) 1st Vaughan Secondary School C 15 Faundo, Jeepy C. 6'6" (1.98m) 5th José Rizal University PF 16 Araña, Justin P. 6'5" (1.96m) 3rd Basud National High School SF 17 Escalambre, Jose Carlos P. 6'2" (1.88m) 3rd San Sebastian College-Recoletos Manila High School SG 18 Lorenzana, Leon Alfonzo B. 6'4" (1.93m) 1st Ateneo de Davao University PF 19 Garcia, Christian Laurent G. 6'4" (1.93m) 3rd Sta. Clara International Academy PF 20 Soriano, Vaughn Jorem 6'4" (1.93m) 1st University of Santo Tomas High School C 21 Macasaet, Jan Cornelius 6'3" (1.91m) 3rd San Sebastian College-Recoletos Manila High School	Head coach Rodil Sablan Assistant coach(es) Tylon Dar Juan Juben Ledesma Genevieve Francisco Gerry Esplana Bobby Jose Strength & conditioning coach(es) John Oswald Aquino Kris Anthony T. Agarao Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster

Team depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2	Bench 3
C	Steve Akomo	Jeepy Faundo	Joco Macasaet
PF	Enric Caunan	Christian Garcia	Jorem Soriano	Justin Araña
SF	Regie Boy Basibas	Carlo Escalambre	Zach Huang
SG	Marvin Lee	MR Romero	Onzo Lorenzana
PG	Jordan Sta. Ana	Oli De Guzman	Ben Kwawukumey

Roster Changes

The Growling Tigers' three starting seniors, Louie Vigil, Jon Sheriff and Kent Lao have already graduated, while Mario Bonleon and Renzo Subido have taken time off from college basketball to participate in the PBA D-League.

UST has eight new players in their roster, composed of four rookies and four transferees.

Former UST Tiger Cubs team captain Jorem Soriano, who last played in the UAAP Season 76 Juniors basketball tournament, was expected to join the Growling Tigers' roster the following year, but personal and family matters kept him away from basketball for two years. He returned to the team last year and was included in the Tigers' Team B roster.

After Season 79's last place finish in the standings, sports analysts have again downplayed UST's chances of making it to the final four in Season 80.

Subtractions

Pos.	#	POB	Name	Height	Year	High School	Notes
PG	6		Sheak Jamil Sheriff, Jr.	5' 7"	5th	Vaughan Secondary School	Graduated
PF	7		Jason M. Strait	6' 4"	2nd	Arellano High School	Transferred to the University of the East
PG	10		Henri Lorenzo P. Subido	5' 9"	4th	De La Salle Santiago Zobel School	On leave
SG	14		Mario Emmanuel T. Bonleon, Jr.	6' 3"	3rd	La Salle Green Hills	On leave
C	17		William Kwabena Afoakwah	6' 6"	2nd	Kumasi	Relegated to Team B
SG	18		Louie Phillipe Vigil	6' 3"	5th	José Rizal University	Graduated
SF	19		Kent Jefferson S. Lao	6' 4"	5th	Saint Stephen's High School	Graduated
C	20		Tsutomu Tateishi	6' 9"	2nd	Ateneo de Davao University	Out due to injury

Additions

Pos.	#	POB	Name	Height	Year	High School	Notes
C	0		Steve Cedrick P. Akomo	6' 9"	4th	Lycée bilingue de Fondonera, Santchou	Transferred from the University of the Visayas
PG	7		John Jordan M. Sta. Ana	6' 0"	2nd	Nazareth School of National University	Transferred from the University of the East
SG	10		Martin Arthur I. Romero	6' 0"	1st	De La Salle Santiago Zobel School	Rookie
PG	14		Ebenezer Godwin Kwawukumey	5' 7"	1st	Vaughan Secondary School	Rookie
SF	17		Jose Carlos P. Escalambre	6' 2"	3rd	San Sebastian College-Recoletos Manila High School	Transferred from Adamson University
SF	18		Leon Alfonzo B. Lorenzana	6' 4"	1st	Ateneo de Davao University	Rookie
PF	19		Christian Laurent G. Garcia	6' 4"	3rd	Sta. Clara International Academy	Transferred from Adamson University
PF	20		Vaughn Jorem Soriano	6' 4"	1st	University of Santo Tomas High School	Rookie

Coaching Staff

Rodil "Boy" Sablan went into his second year as the head coach of the Growling Tigers after signing a one-year contract extension in June 2017.

Former PBA players Gerry Esplana and Roberto "Bobby" Jose replaced Patrick Roy Fran and Julian Rabbi Tomacruz as assistant coaches going into the UAAP Season 80 men's basketball tournament.

Esplana, who was a former FEU Tamaraw, was the head coach of the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals from 2011 until 2014, while the former UST Glowing Goldie Bobby Jose is an aspiring public servant in his hometown of Bocaue, Bulacan. Both of them have children who also play basketball for the varsity teams of their respective schools.

Ineligibility Issues

Steve Akomo became the subject of an eligibility probe in September 2017. In the days leading to the opening of the Season 80 men's basketball tournament, the UAAP board had insisted that Akomo needed two years for his transfer residency. Akomo had transferred from the University of Visayas and did his residency last season.

They had cited the case of Ben Mbala, a Cameroonian who underwent two years of residency when he transferred to De La Salle from the Southwestern University in 2013. UST coach Boy Sablan countered that former Growling Tiger and fellow Cameroonian Karim Abdul only did one year of residency before he was allowed to play for the team in 2011.

In spite of the Republic Act 10676, or the Student-Athletes Protection Act of 2015, a law that put an end to the Jerie Pingoy Rule (the 2013 UAAP rule which required two years of residency for all incoming collegiate athletes who wished to transfer from another UAAP member university), there appears to be another existing UAAP rule specifically made for foreign student-athletes. If the foreign student has attended high school in the Philippines for at least one school year, then he only has to do one year of residency. If he studied for two years, he could play already in college. Otherwise, the two-year residency requirement remains.

The UAAP Board of Managing Directors then recommended Akomo, together with UP Fighting Maroon and fellow foreign student-athlete Ibrahim Ouattara to be ruled ineligible for the coming UAAP Season 80 men's basketball tournament.

On September 7, 2017, the UAAP Board of Trustees (BoT), the official policy-making body made up of the presidents of all-member schools, had a meeting in Far Eastern University and later arrived at a decision on the foreign student-athletes' eligibility case. They have decided against the Board of Managing Directors' recommendation regarding the two-year residency for foreign student-athletes "in the interest of justice and fairness," thereby declaring Akomo and Ouattara eligible to play in the coming UAAP season with finality.

Close Calls

The Growling Tigers on numerous occasions had chances to steal wins from their higher-ranked opponents, but either turnovers, poor free throws, or simply, bad breaks almost always did them in.

Against the UP Fighting Maroons in the first round, UST lost by a single point, on a game-winning three point shot by Paul Desiderio during the last 5 seconds of the game. This was when the iconic "Atin 'to, papasok ito" quote was first mentioned by the Fighting Maroons captain.

They lost again to UP in the second round, after experiencing a similar disappointing outcome. UST came to within 2 points with 9 seconds left in the game, but team captain Marvin Lee missed a last-second heave, causing the team to lose for the eighth straight time.

Against Adamson in the second round, the Tigers came within 2 with 14 seconds left in the game, but fouls got the better of them. Fil-American Falcons guard Jerrick Ahanmisi converted his free throws for the final score, 70-75.

In their only win of the season against UE on their last scheduled game, the Tigers had to rely on perfect free throw shooting by rookie point guard Oli De Guzman to bail them to the final score, 88-85.

In a game against the Adamson Soaring Falcons in the first round of eliminations, UST made 41 turnovers, the most by any team in a single game since 2003, when record-keeping of UAAP statistics first became official.

Preseason Games Results

Republica Cup Basketball Tournament

• College Division, March-April 2017
• Runner-up finish

Date	Opponent	Score	Venue	Top scorer
Mar 1	Arellano University Chiefs	W 116 - 109 OT	Malolos Sports and Convention Center	Akomo - 26 pts
Mar 9	Diliman College Blue Dragons	W 78 - 61	Malolos Sports and Convention Center	Araña - 16 pts
Mar 12	BulSU Gold Gears	W 122 - 99	Malolos Sports and Convention Center	Huang - 27 pts
Mar 19	UP Fighting Maroons	L 68 - 78	Baliwag Star Arena	Lee - 15 pts
Mar 21	AMA University Titans	W 98 - 84	Malolos Sports and Convention Center	Akomo - 18 pts
Mar 26	Diliman College Blue Dragons	W 68 - 60	Malolos Sports and Convention Center	Lee - 21 pts
Apr 9	UP Fighting Maroons	L 91 - 100	Malolos Sports and Convention Center	Lee - 23 pts

Filoil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup

• Men's Division, May-June 2017
• 17th Place finish

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Venue	Top scorer
May 5	5:00 pm	Ateneo Blue Eagles	L 72 - 89	Filoil Flying V Centre	Sta. Ana - 11 pts
May 10	3:15 pm	UE Red Warriors	L 67 - 80	Filoil Flying V Centre	Akomo - 14 pts
May 14	5:00 pm	De La Salle Green Archers	L 81 - 109	Filoil Flying V Centre	Lee - 18 pts
May 21	3:15 pm	Perpetual Help Altas	W 63 - 55	Filoil Flying V Centre	Akomo - 11 pts
May 28	11:15 am	JRU Heavy Bombers	L 55 - 64	Filoil Flying V Centre	De Guzman - 17 pts
Jun 2	3:15 pm	Letran Knights	L 90 - 95	Filoil Flying V Centre	Basibas - 16 pts
Jun 4	5:00 pm	San Beda Red Lions	L 59 - 86	Filoil Flying V Centre	Faundo - 14 pts
Jun 12	1:30 pm	Lyceum Pirates	L 88 - 127	Filoil Flying V Centre	Faundo - 17 pts

• Times listed above are in UTC+08:00

Bayugan Mayor's Cup Basketball Invitational

• June 2017
• Runner-up finish

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Venue	Top scorer
Jun 27	7:00 pm	Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals	W 85 - 74	Lope Asis Memorial Gymnasium	Macasaet - 25 pts
Jun 28	10:30 am	Xavier University Crusaders	W 92 - 56	Lope Asis Memorial Gymnasium
Jun 28	8:30 pm	UV Green Lancers	W 83 - 82	Lope Asis Memorial Gymnasium	Lee - 19 pts
Jun 29	9:00 am	USPF Panthers	L 80 - 88	Lope Asis Memorial Gymnasium
Jun 29	7:00 pm	UV Green Lancers	L 89 - 90	Lope Asis Memorial Gymnasium	Sta. Ana - 18 pts

• Times listed above are in UTC+08:00

32nd Kadayawan Basketball Invitational

• August 2017
• Champions

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Venue	Top scorer
Aug 24	5:00 pm	De La Salle Green Archers	L 88 - 93	Davao City Recreation Center	Faundo - 15 pts
Aug 25	5:00 pm	Davao City All-Stars	W 100 - 89	Davao City Recreation Center
Aug 26	7:00 pm	FEU Tamaraws	Default	Davao City Recreation Center
Aug 27	7:00 pm	Davao City All-Stars	W 87 - 76	USeP Gymnasium & Cultural Center	Basibas - 19 pts

• A bench-clearing brawl caused De La Salle & FEU to be disqualified from the tournament
• Times listed above are in UTC+08:00

UAAP Season 80 Games Results

• All games were aired on ABS-CBN Sports and Action

Date	Time	Opponent	Venue		Result	Record
First round of eliminations
Sep 10	2:00 p.m.	Template:UAAPteam3	Mall of Asia Arena • Pasay		L 73-74	0-1
Game Highs: Points: Lee – 20; Rebounds: Akomo – 14; Assists: Sta. Ana – 6
Sep 16	4:00 p.m.	Template:UAAPteam3	Smart Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City		L 81-88	0-2
Game Highs: Points: Lee, Sta. Ana – 14; Rebounds: Akomo – 15; Assists: Sta. Ana – 6
Sep 20	2:00 p.m.	Template:UAAPteam3	Mall of Asia Arena • Pasay		L 84-94	0-3
Game Highs: Points: Sta. Ana – 14; Rebounds: Akomo – 10; Assists: Lee – 5
Sep 23	2:00 p.m.	Template:UAAPteam3	Mall of Asia Arena • Pasay		L 65-78	0-4
Game Highs: Points: Faundo – 16; Rebounds: Faundo – 11; Assists: Lee, Sta. Ana, Macasaet – 2
Sep 27	4:00 p.m.	Template:UAAPteam3	Smart Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City		L 84-94	0-5
Game Highs: Points: Sta. Ana – 21; Rebounds: Akomo – 9; Assists: Sta. Ana – 5
Sep 30	2:00 p.m.	Template:UAAPteam3	Smart Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City		L 86-115	0-6
Game Highs: Points: Akomo – 15; Rebounds: Akomo – 13; Assists: Lee – 6
Oct 7	2:00 p.m.	Template:UAAPteam3	Mall of Asia Arena • Pasay		L 91-96	0-7
Game Highs: Points: Lee – 20; Rebounds: Akomo – 18; Assists: Sta. Ana – 5
Eighth place after 1st round (0 win–7 losses)
Second round of eliminations
Oct 11	2:00 p.m.	Template:UAAPteam3	Smart Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City		L 69-71	0-8
Game Highs: Points: Soriano – 14; Rebounds: Akomo – 20; Assists: Sta. Ana – 4
Oct 15	12:00 n.n.	Template:UAAPteam3	Filoil Flying V Centre • San Juan		L 70-96	0-9
Game Highs: Points: Faundo, De Guzman – 17; Rebounds: Faundo – 13; Assists: De Guzman – 6
Oct 22	2:00 p.m.	Template:UAAPteam3	Filoil Flying V Centre • San Juan		L 83-91	0-10
Game Highs: Points: Lee – 15; Rebounds: Faundo, Caunan – 6; Assists: De Guzman – 6
Oct 25	4:00 p.m.	Template:UAAPteam3	Mall of Asia Arena • Pasay		L 70-75	0-11
Game Highs: Points: Basibas – 17; Rebounds: Akomo – 17; Assists: Lee, Sta. Ana, De Guzman – 3
Oct 29	2:00 p.m.	Template:UAAPteam3	Smart Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City		L 59-94	0-12
Game Highs: Points: Lee – 25; Rebounds: Akomo – 10; Assists: Sta. Ana – 5
Nov 4	2:00 p.m.	Template:UAAPteam3	Smart Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City		L 83-102	0-13
Game Highs: Points: Sta. Ana, Akomo – 12; Rebounds: Faundo – 12; Assists: Sta. Ana – 5
Nov 12	12:00 n.n.	Template:UAAPteam3	Smart Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City		W 88-85	1-13
Game Highs: Points: Basibas – 21; Rebounds: Akomo – 20; Assists: Basibas – 4
Eighth place finish at 1 win-13 losses (1 win–6 losses in the 2nd round)

• Times listed above are in UTC+08:00
• Source: HumbleBola Stats (UST Growling Tigers Season 80/2017 Game Log)

Individual Statistics

Template:UAAP roster statistics start |- bgcolor="#ffffdd" | Steve Akomo || 12 || 10 || style="Template:UAAP color cell"|27.3 || 52 || 104 || style="Template:UAAP color cell"|50.0% || 0 || 4 || 0.0% || 33 || 69 || 47.8% || style="Template:UAAP color cell"|13.2 || 1.7 || 0.9 || style="Template:UAAP color cell"|2.5 || 3.8 || style="Template:UAAP color cell"|11.4 |- | Marvin Lee || 12 || 6 || 26.0 || 50 || 118 || 42.4% || 17 || 51 || 33.3% || 19 || 23 || 82.6% || 3.3 || 2.9 || style="Template:UAAP color cell"|1.3 || 0.1 || 4.4 || 11.3 |- bgcolor="#ffffdd" | Jordan Sta. Ana || 13 || 11 || 25.1 || 60 || 129 || 46.5% || 0 || 1 || 0.0% || 24 || 57 || 42.1% || 2.4 || style="Template:UAAP color cell"|4.3 || 0.8 || 0.0 || 3.6 || 11.1 |- | Jeepy Faundo || 13 || 3 || 19.7 || 41 || 97 || 42.3% || 0 || 1 || 0.0% || 23 || 36 || 63.9% || 8.2 || 0.4 || 0.3 || 0.5 || 1.2 || 8.1 |- bgcolor="#ffffdd" | Regie Boy Basibas || 11 || 9 || 15.6 || 31 || 73 || 42.5% || 2 || 10 || 20.0% || 17 || 25 || 68.0% || 3.7 || 0.9 || 0.5 || 0.2 || 2.1 || 7.4 |- | Oli De Guzman || 12 || 6 || 17.6 || 29 || 91 || 31.9% || 5 || 28 || 17.9% || 3 || 6 || 50.0% || 2.4 || 2.1 || 0.1 || 0.0 || 2.0 || 5.5 |- bgcolor="#ffffdd" | Enric Caunan || 13 || 6 || 13.0 || 29 || 50 || 58.0% || 0 || 0 || 0.0% || 1 || 6 || 16.7% || 4.0 || 0.6 || 0.1 || 0.6 || 1.1 || 4.5 |- | Justin Araña || 6 || 2 || 8.6 || 7 || 18 || 38.9% || 0 || 0 || 0.0% || 8 || 14 || 57.1% || 3.5 || 0.3 || 0.2 || 0.2 || 0.3 || 3.7 |- bgcolor="#ffffdd" | Carlo Escalambre || 12 || 2 || 9.5 || 17 || 56 || 30.4% || 7 || 32 || 21.9% || 2 || 7 || 28.6% || 1.1 || 0.4 || 0.2 || 0.1 || 0.8 || 3.6 |- | Zach Huang || 11 || 3 || 9.3 || 13 || 37 || 35.1% || 0 || 0 || 0.0% || 8 || 15 || 53.3% || 1.9 || 0.2 || 0.5 || 0.0 || 1.5 || 3.1 |- bgcolor="#ffffdd" | Jorem Soriano || 12 || 2 || 9.6 || 8 || 23 || 34.8% || 2 || 5 || style="Template:UAAP color cell"|40.0% || 13 || 22 || 59.1% || 1.9 || 0.6 || 0.1 || 0.2 || 1.1 || 2.6 |- | Christian Garcia || 11 || 0 || 9.9 || 11 || 33 || 33.3% || 2 || 8 || 25.0% || 5 || 7 || 71.4% || 3.3 || 1.4 || 0.2 || 0.2 || 1.9 || 2.6 |- bgcolor="#ffffdd" | Joco Macasaet || 13 || 4 || 12.3 || 12 || 36 || 33.3% || 0 || 3 || 0.0% || 6 || 8 || 75.0% || 2.8 || 0.8 || 0.0 || 0.5 || 0.5 || 2.3 |- | MR Romero || 12 || 2 || 9.6 || 8 || 18 || 44.4% || 0 || 0 || 0.0% || 2 || 3 || 66.7% || 1.3 || 0.3 || 0.1 || 0.2 || 1.0 || 1.5 |- bgcolor="#ffffdd" | Onzo Lorenzana || 5 || 2 || 3.9 || 1 || 4 || 25.0% || 1 || 4 || 25.0% || 2 || 2 || style="Template:UAAP color cell"|100.0% || 1.2 || 0.2 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 1.2 || 1.0 |- | Ben Kwawukumey || 11 || 1 || 4.9 || 5 || 14 || 35.7% || 0 || 0 || 0.0% || 0 || 0 || 0.0% || 0.7 || 0.1 || 0.2 || 0.0 || 1.1 || 0.9 |- class="sortbottom" ! Total || 14 || || 40.0 || 374 || 901 || 41.5% || 36 || 148 || 24.3% || 166 || 300 || 55.3% || 45.9 || 14.7 || 4.4 || 4.4 || 23.4 || 67.9 |- class="sortbottom" ! Opponents || 14 || || 40.0 || 415 || 982 || 42.3% || 101 || 306 || 33.0% || 188 || 270 || 69.6% || 40.4 || 19.5 || 9.4 || 4.4 || 15.5 || 79.9 |}

• Source: HumbleBola Stats (UST Growling Tigers Season 80/2017 Career Stats)

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FGM	Field-goal made	FGA	Field-goal attempts	FG%	Field-goal percentage
3PM	3-point field-goal made	3PA	3-point field-goal attempts	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage
FTM	Free-throw made	FTA	Free-throw attempts	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	TOT	Turnovers per game	PPG	Points per game

Aftermath

Following the infamous 1-13 win-loss record of Season 80, UST head coach Boy Sablan tendered his resignation on November 20, 2017. UST Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy made the announcement of the entire coaching staff's end of tenure on November 30, but they will continue receiving compensations until May of the following year due to existing live contracts.

Tigresses assistant coach Arsenio Dysangco Jr. was tasked to facilitate team practices while management was finalizing the process for determining the Growling Tigers' next head coach.

Former UST Growling Tigers head coach Pido Jarencio once again expressed interest in coming back to lead the team, but there was someone else who was being considered for the position.

On January 5, 2018, Aldin Ayo, resigned head coach of the De La Salle Green Archers, announced his transfer to the University of Santo Tomas where he will coach the men's basketball team for the next six years. Ayo's appointment was made formal by Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA) director Fr. Jannel Abogado on January 11.