2009 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team

The 2009 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team represented University of Santo Tomas in the 72nd season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The men's basketball tournament for the school year 2009-10 began on July 11, 2009 and the host school for the season was Far Eastern University.[1]

2009 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball
Record
Elims rank	#4
Final rank	#4
2009 record	6–9 (6–8 elims)
Head coach	Alfredo M. Jarencio (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Senen Z. Dueñas Ma. Genevieve R. Francisco Emmanuel Calipes
Captain	Dylan Ababou (5th season)

UST finished fourth at the end of the double-round eliminations. They won six games against eight losses. The Growling Tigers were on back-to-back losses going into their final match of the eliminations. The De La Salle Green Archers who were a game behind them on a 5–8 win-loss record could end up in a tie and eliminate the Tigers on a superior +13 quotient.

UST ended up losing to the UE Red Warriors, but the NU Bulldogs had indirectly helped them qualify for the playoffs by beating La Salle who eventually finished the eliminations with a 5–9 record.[2]

The Tigers made it back to the final four after missing out on the playoffs in Season 71 but lost to first-seed Ateneo, who had a twice-to-beat advantage over them.[3]

They had an average winning margin of 9.3 points and an average losing margin of 12.9 points.

They experienced a 27-point blowout loss to the FEU Tamaraws[4] and had a double-overtime loss to La Salle, both in the first round.[5]

Team captain Dylan Ababou was named Most valuable player and scoring leader of the season, while Jeric Teng won the Rookie of the year award.[6]

Roster

UST Growling Tigers roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Year High School C 5 Green, Darell John S. 6'3" (1.91m) 1st Colegio de San Juan de Letran SF 6 Ababou, Dylan Simon R. (C) 6'3" (1.91m) 5th Siena College of Quezon City PG 7 Fortuna, Jeric Marco G. 5'7" (1.7m) 2nd De La Salle Santiago Zobel School PF 8 Afuang, Carmelo S. 6'4" (1.93m) 2nd San Beda College–Rizal SG 9 Bautista, Clark Daniel Oliver M. 5'9" (1.75m) 2nd Benedictine International School SF 10 Mariano, Aljon E. 6'3" (1.91m) 1st San Beda College–Rizal PF 11 Marquez, Andre Charles D. 6'3" (1.91m) 2nd La Salle Greenhills PF 12 Camus, Christopher I. 6'4" (1.93m) 3rd Sunny Hills High School SF 13 Rushdy, Hadi O. 6'3" (1.91m) 1st Colegio San Agustin SF 14 Mirza, Khasim Ali G. 6'4" (1.93m) 5th La Salle College Antipolo SG 16 Teng, Jeric Allen U. 6'2" (1.88m) 1st Xavier School SG 17 Ungria, Aljohn Gil P. 6'1" (1.85m) 1st Colegio de San Lorenzo PF 18 Maliksi, Allein Gail Q. 6'4" (1.93m) 4th Camarin High School SG 19 Aytona, Eduardo, Jr. D. 5'10" (1.78m) 1st University of Santo Tomas PG 20 Felix, Andrew Joseph B. 5'11" (1.8m) 1st PAREF Southridge School PF 21 Cam, Marco Martin M. 6'0" (1.83m) 1st San Sebastian College-Recoletos	Head coach Alfredo M. Jarencio Assistant coach(es) Senen Z. Dueñas Ma. Genevieve R. Francisco (statistics) Rodil S. Sablan (academic adviser) Strength & conditioning coach(es) Emmanuel Calipes Yi Ming Liu John Paul S. Cuan (trainer) Team manager Clarence D. Aytona Timmy Chong Rudy Yu Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Melo Afuang	Darell Green	Marco Cam
PF	Dylan Ababou	Chris Camus	Allein Maliksi
SF	Khasim Mirza	Aljon Mariano	Hadi Rushdy
SG	Tata Bautista	Jeric Teng	Aljohn Ungria
PG	Jeric Fortuna	Eddie Aytona	Andrew Felix

Roster changes

All but two of the players of the Season 69 champion team have graduated. Season 70 MVP Jervy Cruz, point guard Japs Cuan, former team captain Francis Allera, Mel Gile, and centers Badong Canlas and Chester Taylor have all used up their playing years and the only members remaining from the team are Dylan Ababou, who is set to lead the team as this year's captain and returning forward AC Marquez.

Ababou will be joined by veterans Khasim Mirza, Chris Camus, and Allein Maliksi who has recovered from an ACL injury the previous year. The team will have eight new players composed of rookies and members of the Team B training pool.[7]

Subtractions

Pos.	#	POB	Player	Height	Year	High school	Notes
C	7		Mark Angelo C. Canlas	6' 5"	4th	Don Bosco Academy, Pampanga	Graduated
SG	8		Emilian C. Vargas	5' 11"	3rd		Transferred to Emilio Aguinaldo College
SF	9		Melchor C. Gile	6' 4"	4th		Graduated
SF	16		Franciz Philip A. Allera	6' 3"	5th	DOLE Philippines School, South Cotabato	Graduated
C	17		Chester Lloyd C. Taylor	6' 4"	5th	Colegio San Agustin	Graduated
PG	18		John Paul S. Cuan	5' 7"	5th	University of Santo Tomas	Graduated
SG	19		Carlos Amador A. Fenequito	6' 0"	4th		Relegated to Team B
C	20		Jervy A. Cruz	6' 4"	5th	Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College of Guimba	Graduated
PG	21		Jackson V. Wong	5' 10"	2nd	Philippine Academy of Sakya-Manila	On leave

Additions

Pos.	#	POB	Player	Height	Year	High school	Notes
C	5		Darell John S. Green	6' 3"	1st	Colegio de San Juan de Letran	Rookie
SF	10		Aljon E. Mariano	6' 3"	1st	San Beda College–Rizal	Rookie
PF	11		Andre Charles D. Marquez	6' 3"	2nd	La Salle Greenhills	Returning from Season 69
SF	13		Hadi O. Rushdy	6' 3"	1st	Colegio San Agustin	Rookie
SG	16		Jeric Allen U. Teng	6' 2"	1st	Xavier School	Rookie
SG	17		Aljohn Gil P. Ungria	6' 1"	1st	Colegio de San Lorenzo	From Team B
SG	19		Eduardo D. Aytona, Jr.	5' 10"	1st	University of Santo Tomas	Rookie
SG	20		Andrew Joseph B. Felix	5' 11"	1st	PAREF Southridge School	From Team B
SF	21		Marco Martin M. Cam	6' 0"	1st	San Sebastian College-Recoletos	Rookie

Coaching staff

Rhuel "Beaujing" Acot, the Growling Tigers' assistant coach for defense has resigned from his post. He had informed head coach Pido Jarencio of his decision through a text message a month before the UAAP tournament began. He had coached the Tigers during their preseason games in the summer but had stopped showing up to practices after.

Assistant coach Rabbi Tomacruz has also left the coaching staff to concentrate on his studies. The former UST Glowing Goldie who was in charge of liaisons and training of the Tigers' Team B has decided to pursue a career in nursing.

Acot's tasks will be divided between Jarencio and Senen Dueñas, the team's assistant coach for offense. Gina Francisco, former captain of the UST senior women's basketball team will assume Tomacruz's duties in the team.[8]

Preseason tournaments

2009 Nike Summer League

• Tournament record: 1W–4L

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Venue	Top scorer
Apr 20	12:00 pm	José Rizal Heavy Bombers	L 55–66	Far Eastern University Gym
May 4	9:00 am	DBTC Greywolves	W 79–64	Far Eastern University Gym	Teng - 20 pts
May 7	1:30 pm	National University Bulldogs	L (forfeit)	Far Eastern University Gym
May 12	1:30 pm	Letran Knights	L 75–81	Far Eastern University Gym
May 14	9:00 am	UP Fighting Maroons	L 62–71	Far Eastern University Gym	Bautista - 16 pts

Times listed above are in UTC+08:00

2009 Millennium Basketball League–Open championship

• Tournament rank: Runners-up (5W–2L)
• Allein Maliksi – Tournament MVP

Date	Opponent	Score	Venue	Top scorer
Eliminations
May 18	RTU Blue Thunders	W 87–75
May 20	LPU Pirates	L 67–71	Lyceum Gym–Manila
Jun 3	Philippine National Police	W (forfeit)
Jun 5	Wang's Ballclub	W 92–87	Lyceum Gym–Manila
Jun 8	Vescon-Cerel	W 87–78
Semifinal game
Jun 15	Wang's Ballclub	W 94–84	Rizal Technological University Gym	Maliksi - 18 pts
Championship game
Jun 23	LPU Pirates	L 73–91	Lyceum Gym–Manila	Maliksi - 17 pts
Lost Finals

UAAP Season 72 games results

Further information: UAAP Season 72 basketball tournaments

Elimination games were played in a double round-robin format. All games were aired on Studio 23 & Balls.

Date	Time	Opponent	Venue	Result	Record
First round of eliminations
Jul 11	2:00 p.m.	Adamson Falcons	Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City	W 76–75	1–0
Game Highs: Points: Mirza – 23; Rebounds: Ababou – 7; Assists: Fortuna – 5
Jul 16	2:00 p.m.	NU Bulldogs	Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City	W 104–89	2–0
Game Highs: Points: Ababou – 30; Rebounds: Mirza – 15; Assists: Mirza – 6
Jul 19	4:00 p.m.	Ateneo Blue Eagles	PhilSports Arena • Pasig	L 77–93	2–1
Game Highs: Points: Maliksi – 20; Rebounds: Mirza – 8; Assists: Teng, Bautista – 3
Jul 25	4:00 p.m.	UE Red Warriors	PhilSports Arena • Pasig	W 92–88	3–1
Game Highs: Points: Ababou – 28; Rebounds: Camus – 14; Assists: Bautista – 8
Aug 2	4:00 p.m.	De La Salle Green Archers	Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City	L 92–101^2OT	3–2
Game Highs: Points: Ababou – 19; Rebounds: Ababou – 11; Assists: Fortuna – 5
Aug 6	4:00 p.m.	FEU Tamaraws	Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City	L 63–90	3–3
Game Highs: Points: Teng – 20; Rebounds: Mirza – 9; Assists: Ababou, Fortuna – 3
Aug 8	4:00 p.m.	UP Fighting Maroons	Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City	W 95–85	4–3
Game Highs: Points: Ababou – 23; Rebounds: Teng – 8; Assists: Bautista, Fortuna – 3
Fifth place after 1st round (4 wins–3 losses)
Second round of eliminations
Aug 15	4:00 p.m.	FEU Tamaraws	Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City	L 67–75	4–4
Game Highs: Points: Ababou – 23; Rebounds: Maliksi – 9; Assists: Fortuna – 5
Aug 20	2:00 p.m.	UP Fighting Maroons	Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City	W 93–88	5–4
Game Highs: Points: Ababou – 23; Rebounds: Camus – 10; Assists: Bautista, Fortuna – 6
Aug 23	2:00 p.m.	Ateneo Blue Eagles	Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City	L 70–80	5–5
Game Highs: Points: Ababou – 19; Rebounds: Mirza – 12; Assists: Fortuna – 6
Aug 30	2:00 p.m.	NU Bulldogs	The Arena • San Juan	W 79–58	6–5
Game Highs: Points: Ababou – 20; Rebounds: Mirza – 10; Assists: Mirza, Teng – 4
Sep 3	4:00 p.m.	De La Salle Green Archers	Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City	L 64–68	6–6
Game Highs: Points: Ababou – 19; Rebounds: Mirza – 12; Assists: Fortuna – 3
Sep 6	2:00 p.m.	Adamson Falcons	The Arena • San Juan	L 64–83	6–7
Game Highs: Points: Bautista – 14; Rebounds: Mirza – 12; Assists: Fortuna – 4
Sep 10	4:00 p.m.	UE Red Warriors	Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City	L 67–77	6–8
Game Highs: Points: Bautista – 12; Rebounds: Ababou – 10; Assists: Camus, Fortuna – 4
Fourth place at 6 wins–8 losses (2 wins–5 losses in the 2nd round)
Final four match[lower-alpha 1]
Sep 20	3:30 p.m.	Ateneo Blue Eagles	Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City	L 64–81	0–1 (6–9)
Game Highs: Points: Ababou – 19; Rebounds: Mirza – 11; Assists: Fortuna – 4
Eliminated from the Finals

Times listed above are in UTC+08:00

Source: inboundPASS

Notes:

1. Ateneo held a twice-to-beat advantage over UST

Individual statistics

Eliminations

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3FG%	FTM	FTA	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TOT	PPG
Dylan Ababou	14		32.9	98	240	40.8%	15	56	26.8%	57	81	70.4%	7.1	2.2	0.9	0.4	2.4	18.9
Khasim Mirza	14		30.3	70	182	38.5%	14	62	22.6%	35	55	63.6%	8.8	1.8	0.6	0.8	2.9	13.5
Jeric Teng	14		23.4	49	119	41.2%	14	55	25.5%	48	61	78.7%	4.4	1.6	0.9	0.2	2.1	11.4
Jeric Fortuna	13		31.4	35	89	39.3%	21	41	51.2%	14	16	87.5%	3.1	4.0	1.5	0.2	2.8	8.1
Allein Maliksi	11		14.3	29	81	35.8%	10	28	35.7%	20	25	80.0%	4.3	0.5	0.4	0.2	2.0	8.0
Tata Bautista	14		16.4	32	97	33.0%	31	78	39.7%	14	16	87.5%	1.9	1.9	0.6	0.0	1.2	7.2
Chris Camus	14		23.6	36	74	48.6%	0	3	0.0%	27	39	69.2%	6.7	0.9	1.6	1.5	0.9	7.1
Melo Afuang	14		14.4	19	52	36.5%	1	5	20.0%	8	13	61.5%	2.6	0.3	0.4	0.1	1.2	3.4
Darell Green	12		7.4	8	26	30.8%	0	0	0.0%	4	6	66.7%	1.8	0.1	0.2	0.0	0.8	1.7
Aljon Mariano	10		4.3	3	11	27.3%	0	2	0.0%	4	6	66.7%	0.8	0.1	0.0	0.1	0.8	1.0
Eddie Aytona	12		5.2	4	15	26.7%	2	9	22.2%	0	0	0.0%	0.3	0.5	0.0	0.1	0.7	0.8
Marco Cam	6		1.7	1	3	33.3%	0	0	0.0%	2	2	100.0%	0.8	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.7
Andrew Felix	6		2.5	1	2	50.0%	0	0	0.0%	0	0	0.0%	0.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.8	0.3
Aljohn Ungria	9		3.1	0	4	0.0%	0	1	0.0%	1	2	50.0%	0.4	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.2	0.1
AC Marquez	4		2.8	0	2	0.0%	0	0	0.0%	0	0	0.0%	0.8	0.0	0.3	0.3	0.8	0.0
Hadi Rushdy	3		1.0	0	0	0.0%	0	0	0.0%	0	0	0.0%	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Total	14		40.7	385	997	38.6%	103	343	30.0%	231	322	71.7%	44.4	14.9	7.1	3.7	18.5	78.6
Opponents	14		40.7	406	993	40.9%	110	375	29.3%	240	399	60.2%	41.2	16.5	6.1	5.1	16.8	82.1

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3FG%	FTM	FTA	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TOT	PPG
Dylan Ababou	1		38	6	18	33.3%	3	11	27.3%	4	6	66.7%	8	1	0	0	5	19
Khasim Mirza	1		31	3	12	25.0%	2	8	25.0%	6	8	75.0%	11	2	1	1	3	14
Jeric Teng	1		22	3	11	27.3%	2	6	33.3%	2	2	100.0%	4	0	0	1	2	10
Tata Bautista	1		22	2	7	28.6%	2	6	33.3%	5	8	62.5%	3	0	0	0	2	9
Jeric Fortuna	1		35	3	11	27.3%	0	5	0.0%	1	2	50.0%	6	4	2	0	4	7
Melo Afuang	1		17	2	4	50.0%	0	0	0.0%	0	0	0.0%	4	0	1	0	0	4
Chris Camus	1		19	0	2	0.0%	0	2	0.0%	1	2	50.0%	4	0	0	1	0	1
Allein Maliksi	1		15	0	0	0.0%	0	2	0.0%	0	0	0.0%	5	0	0	0	5	0
Eddie Aytona	1		1	0	0	0.0%	0	0	0.0%	0	0	0.0%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	1		40.0	19	69	27.5%	9	40	22.5%	19	28	67.9%	43	8	4	3	21	64
Opponents	1		40.0	30	59	50.8%	6	16	37.5%	14	21	66.7%	40	21	14	3	19	81

Source: inboundPASS

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

Postseason tournaments

2009 Philippine Collegiate Championship

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Venue	Top scorer
Round of 16 game
Nov 30	4:00 pm	José Rizal Heavy Bombers	W 64–62	Ormoc Superdome	Mirza - 23 pts
Quarterfinal game
Dec 4	2:00 pm	Ateneo Blue Eagles	L 72–81	Ynares Sports Arena	Maliksi - 25 pts
Eliminated from Semifinals

Times listed above are in UTC+08:00

Awards

Player	Award
Dylan Ababou	Season MVP
	Mythical team
	Scoring champion
Jeric Teng	Rookie of the year
Jeric Fortuna	Best three-point FG percentage

Players drafted into the PBA

Year	Round	Pick	Overall	Player	PBA team
2010	2	6	16	Khasim Mirza	Meralco Bolts
2011	1	8	8	Allein Maliksi	Petron Blaze Boosters
2011	1	10	10	Dylan Ababou	Barako Bull Energy

References

1. Legaspi, Perry. "Jittery UST edges Adamson in UAAP season opener". GMA News Online. Retrieved July 11, 2009.
2. Abulencia, Charizze L.; Babiera, Lester G. "Tigers gatecrash Final Four". The Varsitarian. Retrieved September 16, 2009.
3. "Ateneo on course for back-to-back UAAP titles". GMA News Online. Retrieved September 20, 2009.
4. Almo, Alder T. "Ababou plays but UST still loses". ABS-CBN Sports. Retrieved August 6, 2009.
5. Payo, Jasmine W. "La Salle seize double OT victory". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
6. Almo, Alder T. "UST's Teng named Rookie of the Year". ABS-CBN Sports. Retrieved September 19, 2009.
7. "New-look Tigers vow tough UAAP fight". The Varsitarian. Retrieved June 30, 2009.
8. "Tigers remain undeterred amid losing two coaches". The Varsitarian. Retrieved July 15, 2009.