VETERAN GUARD Jeric Fortuna stood heads-and-shoulders above the rest of the much-hyped rookies who were making their respective debuts as he scored when it mattered the most to lift the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers to an exciting 73-72 overtime win over the National University (NU) Bulldogs in the 74th UAAP basketball tournament yesterday at the Araneta Coliseum.
While the spotlight shone on the much-anticipated debuts of NU’s Bobby Ray Parks and UST’s Kareem Abdul, Fortuna stole the thunder as he scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half, including the game-tying three-pointer in regulation and the game-winning layup in overtime with 39.1 seconds left.
The game was played on even terms for most of the match as the third period ended with both teams tied at 44-all. However, the Bulldogs, mentored by new head coach Eric Altamirano, went ahead, 59-52, after an 11-2 blast that was nearly single-handedly orchestrated by rookie Dennis Villamor.
But UST refused to back down and made their comeback. A three-pointer by Jeric Teng started off the fireworks and the rest of his teammates took cue, which culminated in a straight-away trifecta by Fortuna that knotted the count at 65-all, with 1:17 left in regulation.
The Bulldogs had the final say in the fourth period as Parks had the ball in his hands with seconds. However, UST’s defense held steady and forced the much-heralded wingman to pass the ball to Cederick Labing-Isa, who missed a jumper as time expired.
The overtime session started and ended with Fortuna as he scored the first four markers of that stretch to put UST ahead, 69-65. The Bulldogs came back with a 7-2 run, with five coming from Parks to take the lead at 72-71, with 1:19 remaining. Fortuna then put UST back in front with a nifty lay-in with 39.1 ticks left. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio