1995 UST Growling Tigers basketball team

1995 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball
UAAP Season 58 champions
Record
Elims rank	#1
Final rank	#1
1995 record	14–5 (11–3 elims)
Head coach	Aric del Rosario (9th season)
Assistant coaches	Dong Vergeire Binky Favis
Captain	Lester del Rosario (4th season)

The 1995 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team represented University of Santo Tomas in the 58th season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The men's basketball tournament for the school year 1995–96 began on July 15, 1995, and the host school for the season was the Ateneo de Manila University.

UST finished the double round-robin eliminations at first place with 11 wins against 3 losses. They fell into a two-game losing streak early in the first round, with the Ateneo Blue Eagles winning over them for the first time in the last five years, and the UE Red Warriors handing them down a 19-point 54–73 defeat. The Tigers closed out the first round with a denial of the De La Salle Green Archers' quest for an undefeated season, snapping their 6-game winning streak with a 75–59 victory. They had an average winning margin of 11.7 points and an average losing margin of 9.3 points per game.

In the Final Four, UST overcame a 65–76 loss from the No. 4-ranked FEU Tamaraws by winning 74–68 in the deciding game to qualify to the Finals, where they were once again facing La Salle in a repeat of last year's best-of-three series. The Green Archers won Game 1 by 10 points, but the Tigers once again succeeded in extending the series to a third game after a 66–62 Game 2 win. In the deciding game, Dale Singson scored the last basket with a layup in the last 9.4 seconds after driving past La Salle's Jason Webb for a 67–64 count. The Archers missed a three-point shot as time expired, giving UST their third three peat since the 1946–48 seasons.

Chris Cantonjos was named Most Valuable Player of the season, while Gerard Francisco won the Rookie of the Year award.

Roster

UST Growling Tigers roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Year High School PG 4 Francis Mangyao 6'0" (1.83m) 2nd University of Southern Philippines Foundation SG 5 Lester Andrew del Rosario (C) 5'11" (1.8m) 4th University of Santo Tomas SG 6 Angelo Velasco 5'9" (1.75m) 1st St. Francis High School SF 7 Francisco Guinto 6'3" (1.91m) 3rd – SG 9 Romel David 5'10" (1.78m) 3rd Mapúa Institute of Technology PG 10 Ramon Singson 5'11" (1.8m) 2nd Mandaue Academy SG 11 Richard Melencio 5'9" (1.75m) 2nd San Beda College SF 12 Gerard Raymond Francisco 6'3" (1.91m) 1st University of Santo Tomas SF 13 Ramon Talaga, III – 1st – PF 14 Richard Yee 6'4" (1.93m) 2nd Antique National School C 15 Christopher Cantonjos 6'6" (1.98m) 3rd Colegio de San Juan de Letran PF 16 Ernesto Ballesteros 6'4" (1.93m) 2nd Mapúa Institute of Technology SG 18 Henry Ong 5'11" (1.8m) 3rd Mapúa Institute of Technology C 20 Chandler Tyrone Donaldson 6'5" (1.96m) 2nd –	Head coach Januario del Rosario Assistant coach(es) Edward Vergeire Vincent Kenneth Favis Legend (C) Team captain Injured

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Cantonjos	Donaldson
PF	Ballesteros	Yee	Guinto
SF	Melencio	Francisco	Del Rosario
SG	David	Ong	Talaga
PG	Singson	Mangyao	Velasco

Roster changes

Subtractions

Pos.	No.	Nat.	Player	Height	Year	High school	Notes
PG	4		Emmanuel Joel Villanueva	5' 9"	2nd	University of Santo Tomas	Academic deficiencies
PF	5		Edmund Reyes	6' 3"	5th	Good Shepherd Academy	Graduated
PG	11		Bal David Jr.	5' 9"	3rd	University of Santo Tomas	Left team to turn professional
PG	14		Edfendel Lao		3rd	Adamson University	Academic deficiencies
C	16		Dennis Espino	6' 6"	5th	Holy Angel University	Graduated

Additions

Pos.	No.	Nat.	Player	Height	Year	High school	Notes
PG	4		Francis Mangyao	6' 0"	2nd	University of Southern Philippines Foundation	Transferred from Salazar Institute of Technology
SG	6		Angelo Velasco	5' 9"	1st	St. Francis High School	Rookie
SF	12		Gerard Raymond Francisco	6' 3"	1st	University of Santo Tomas	Rookie
SF	13		Ramon Talaga, III		1st		Rookie
PF	16		Ernesto Ballesteros	6' 4"	2nd	Mapúa Institute of Technology	Returning from Season 55

Schedule and results

Preseason tournament

Preseason game log
1995 Fr. Martin Cup: 6–0 Game Date • Time Opponent Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Location 1 May 7 • 10:30 am SFAC Doves W 64–61 1–0 Ballesteros (20) Rizal Memorial Coliseum Manila 2 May 9 • 10:30 am NU Bulldogs W 67–59 2–0 Melencio (22) Rizal Memorial Coliseum Manila 3 May 14 • 10:30 am JRU Heavy Bombers W 72–58 3–0 David (17) Rizal Memorial Coliseum Manila 4 May 16 • 12:00 pm Benilde Blazers W 78–64 4–0 Ballesteros (14) Rizal Memorial Coliseum Manila 5 May 17 • 3:00 pm UE Red Warriors W 71–66 5–0 David (18) Rizal Memorial Coliseum Manila 6 May 30 • 12:00 pm Adamson Soaring Falcons W 88–85 6–0 Yee (20) Rizal Memorial Coliseum Manila
(#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in UTC+08:00.

UAAP games

Further information: UAAP Season 58 men's basketball tournament

Elimination games were played in a double round-robin format. All games were aired on PTV 4 by Silverstar Sports.

UAAP Season 58 game log
Elimination round: 11–3 Game Date • Time Opponent Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Location 1 Jul 15 • 7:00 pm Adamson Soaring Falcons W 68–64 1–0 Araneta Coliseum Quezon City 2 Jul 18 • 1:30 pm NU Bulldogs W 85–80 2–0 Loyola Center Quezon City 3 Jul 23 • 1:30 pm Ateneo Blue Eagles L 54–57 2–1 Loyola Center Quezon City 4 Jul 26 • 12:45 pm UE Red Warriors L 54–73 2–2 Tied (11) Araneta Coliseum Quezon City 5 Jul 30 • 3:00 pm UP Fighting Maroons W 69–59 3–2 Yee (18) Loyola Center Quezon City 6 Aug 6 • 3:00 pm FEU Tamaraws W 85–67 4–2 Loyola Center Quezon City 7 Aug 12 • 3:00 pm De La Salle Green Archers End of R1 of eliminations W 75–59 5–2 Cantonjos (18) Araneta Coliseum Quezon City 8 Aug 19 • 3:00 pm UP Fighting Maroons W 82–61 6–2 Yee (17) Loyola Center Quezon City 9 Aug 23 • 1:30 pm NU Bulldogs W 77–64 7–2 Yee (19) Loyola Center Quezon City 10 Aug 26 • 3:00 pm UE Red Warriors L 61–67 7–3 Francisco (13) Loyola Center Quezon City 11 Aug 29 • 1:30 pm Adamson Falcons W 98–84 8–3 Cantonjos (27) Loyola Center Quezon City 12 Sep 3 • 3:00 pm FEU Tamaraws W 86–66 9–3 Loyola Center Quezon City 13 Sep 9 • 3:00 pm Ateneo Blue Eagles W 72–67 10–3 Loyola Center Quezon City 14 Sep 16 • 3:00 pm De La Salle Green Archers End of R2 of eliminations W 87–842OT 11–3 Araneta Coliseum Quezon City
Final Four: 1–1 Game Date • Time Seed Opponent Result Series High points High rebounds High assists Location 1 Sep 23 • 1:30 pm (#1) (#4) FEU Tamaraws L 65–76 0–1 (11–4) Araneta Coliseum Quezon City 2 Sep 27 • 3:00 pm (#1) (#4) FEU Tamaraws W 74–68 1–1 (12–4) Loyola Center Quezon City
Finals: 2–1 Game Date • Time Seed Opponent Result Series High points High rebounds High assists Location 1 Sep 30 • 3:00 pm (#1) (#2) De La Salle Green Archers L 78–88 0–1 (12–5) Araneta Coliseum Quezon City 2 Oct 4 • 3:00 pm (#1) (#2) De La Salle Green Archers W 66–62 1–1 (13–5) Araneta Coliseum Quezon City 3 Oct 7 • 3:00 pm (#1) (#2) De La Salle Green Archers W 67–64 2–1 (14–5) Araneta Coliseum Quezon City
(#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in UTC+08:00. Source: Google News Archives

Postseason tournament

Postseason game log
1996 McDonald's Cup Battle of Champions: 3–1 Game Date • Time Opponent Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Location 1 Feb 1 PSBA Jaguars W 79–75 1–0 Rizal Memorial Coliseum Manila 2 Feb 2 PUP Mighty Maroons W 90–86 2–0 Cantonjos (18) Rizal Memorial Coliseum Manila 3 Feb 3 San Sebastian Stags W 84–77 3–0 Ong (17) Rizal Memorial Coliseum Manila 4 Feb 4 San Sebastian Stags Championship game L 72–78 3–1 Tied (13) Rizal Memorial Coliseum Manila
(#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in UTC+08:00.

Awards

Name	Award	Date	Ref.
Team	Fr. Martin Cup runners-up	2 Jun 1995
	McDonald's Cup runners-up	4 Feb 1996
	UAAP champions	7 Oct 1995
Chris Cantonjos	Season MVP
	Mythical team
Gerard Francisco	Rookie of the Year