Koji Buenaflor had his best game of the season as the University of Santo Tomas Tiger Cubs walloped the De La Salle Zobel Junior Archers, 76-58, in the UAAP Season 87 Boys’ Basketball Tournament on Thursday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Buenaflor finished with a season-high of 23 points to go with six rebounds, while Racine Kane added a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds as the Tiger Cubs won their seventh straight game for a 7-1 record.
From a slim 36-35 lead at the half, the Tiger Cubs started to pull away in the third quarter with consecutive inside hits from Buenaflor and conversions from Liam Acido, Charles Bucsit, and Charles Esteban for a 60-46 lead.
The Tiger Cubs continued their run in the fourth quarter behind inside connections from Kane and perimeter baskets from Carl Manding as the lead reached its largest at 21 points.
“Medyo tight kami nung first two quarters; nung third and fourth quarters, dumepensa na kami kaya nakuha namin ‘yung panalo,” Tiger Cubs head coach Manu Iñigo said after the game.
Kristoffer Alas tallied a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Maco Davao added 11 markers as the Junior Archers dropped to a 3-5 mark.
Meanwhile, defending champion Adamson University Baby Falcons and the University of the East Junior Warriors remain locked in a tight battle for the fourth spot after securing separate wins earlier in the day.
The Baby Falcons escaped with a narrow 58-57 win over the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles to bounce back from their previous loss, while the Junior Warriors cruised past the University of the Philippines Integrated School Fighting Maroons, 85-72.
With these results, both the Baby Falcons and the Junior Warriors are tied in the standings at 4-4. The Blue Eaglets and the Junior Warriors dropped to a 1-7 and 0-8 record, respectively.
The National University Nazareth School Bullpups (8-0) escaped with a 59-57 victory over the Far Eastern University-Diliman Baby Tamaraws (5-3). Collins Akowe tallied a double-double of 21 points and 24 rebounds to lead NUNS.
