1998 UST Growling Tigers basketball team

The 1998 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team represented University of Santo Tomas in the 61st season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The men's basketball tournament for the school year 1998–99 began on July 11, 1998, and the host school for the season was the University of the East.[1][2]

1998 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball
Record
Elims rank #T–4
Final rank#4
1998 record9–8 (7–7 elims)
Head coachAric del Rosario (12th season)
Assistant coachesDong Vergeire
Boy Ong
CaptainDale Singson (5th season)
Seasons
← 1997
1999 →

The Tigers ended the double round-robin eliminations with seven wins and seven losses. The UE Red Warriors and the UP Fighting Maroons had the same win–loss record, but UE was ranked higher due to a superior quotient. This left UST to contend with UP in a playoff game for the remaining fourth Final Four slot. The two teams split their elimination round games, with the Tigers winning the first round in overtime, and the Maroons getting payback in the next round with an 80–78 win. UST won the playoff with an eight-point lead at 80–72 and had once again faced the De La Salle Green Archers for the second straight year in the semifinal round. They earlier defeated the Green Archers in the second round of eliminations to give them their only loss of the season.[2]

In the Final Four, the Tigers took away La Salle's twice-to-beat advantage with a 55–51 win to extend the series to a deciding Game 2. The concluding match saw eleven lead changes until La Salle's Renren Ritualo drove and converted from the baseline to bring UST down by three points. The Tigers were unable to score as they committed a series of turnovers. They eventually lost at 51–56, sending La Salle to the Finals.

Veteran forward Richard Yee, who had averaged 13.1 points per gane was selected to the Mythical second team during the presentation of individual awards.

Roster

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UST Growling Tigers roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Year High School
SF 4   Emmerson Oreta 6'3" (1.91m) 2nd University of Santo Tomas
PG 5   Jake Westley Agleron 5'9" (1.75m) 1st San Sebastian College-Recoletos
SF 6   Niño Greggy Gelig 6'2" (1.88m) 1st Holy Angel University
C 7   Marvin Ortiguerra 6'5" (1.96m) 2nd Mapúa Institute of Technology
SF 8   Ramon Talaga, III 6'0" (1.83m) 4th
C 9   Gilbert Lao 6'7" (2.01m) 2nd Uno High School
PG 10   Ramon Singson (C) 5'11" (1.8m) 5th Mandaue Academy
SF 11   Gerard Raymond Francisco 6'3" (1.91m) 4th University of Santo Tomas
PF 14   Richard Yee 6'4" (1.93m) 5th Antique National School
C 15   Mark Joseph Kong 6'8" (2.03m) 1st University of Santo Tomas
SG 16   Arnulfo Roan Tuadles, Jr. 6'1" (1.85m) 1st Saint Francis of Assisi College
PF 17   Melchor Latoreno 6'5" (1.96m) 3rd University of Santo Tomas
SG 18   Cyrus Baguio 6'2" (1.88m) 1st Southwestern University
PG 20   Angelo Velasco   5'9" (1.75m) 4th St. Francis High School
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  •   Injured

Depth chart

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Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Ortiguerra Lao
PF Yee Latoreno
SF Francisco Gelig
SG Oreta Tuadles Baguio
PG Singson Agleron

Roster changes

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The Tigers lost four of their players from the 1994–96 champion squads to departures, as Henry Ong and Romel David had already graduated. Richard Melencio and Chandler Donaldson, meanwhile were signed to teams in the newly-formed Metropolitan Basketball Association to play professionally.[3][4]

Subtractions

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Pos. No. Nat. Player Height Year High school Notes
SF 5   John Dale Valena 6' 0" 3rd University of Santo Tomas Transferred to José Rizal College
SG 9   Romel David 5' 10" 5th Mapúa Institute of Technology Graduated
SG 11   Richard Melencio 5' 9" 5th San Beda College Forwent final year to play in the MBA
PF 13   Ryan Bernardo 6' 5" 2nd Left the team to play in the MBA
C 19   Chandler Tyrone Donaldson 6' 5" 4th Left the team to play in the MBA
SG 18   Henry Ong 5' 11" 5th Mapúa Institute of Technology Graduated

Additions

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Pos. No. Nat. Player Height Year High school Notes
PG 5   Jake Westley Agleron 5' 9" 1st San Sebastian College-Recoletos Rookie
SF 6   Niño Greggy Gelig 6' 2" 1st Holy Angel University Rookie
C 15   Mark Joseph Kong 6' 8" 1st University of Santo Tomas Rookie
SG 16   Arnulfo Roan Tuadles, Jr. 6' 1" 1st Saint Francis of Assisi College Rookie
SG 18   Cyrus Baguio 6' 2" 1st Southwestern University Rookie

Schedule and results

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Elimination games were played in a double round-robin format. All games were aired on PTV 4 and SBN 21 by Silverstar Sports.

UAAP Season 61 game log
Elimination round: 7–7
Game Date • Time Opponent Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Location
1 Jul 11 • 2:30 pm FEU Tamaraws L 58–63 0–1 Araneta Coliseum
Quezon City
2 Jul 19 • 3:30 pm Ateneo Blue Eagles W 80–66 1–1 Ninoy Aquino Stadium
Manila
3 Jul 26 • 3:30 pm De La Salle Green Archers L 62–76 1–2 Ninoy Aquino Stadium
Manila
4 Aug 1 • 5:30 pm NU Bulldogs W 96–73 2–2 Araneta Coliseum
Quezon City
5 Aug 6 • 3:30 pm UE Red Warriors L 58–72 2–3 Loyola Center
Quezon City
6 Aug 9 • 1:00 pm Adamson Soaring Falcons W 77–63 3–3 Loyola Center
Quezon City
7 Aug 15 • 3:30 pm UP Fighting Maroons
End of R1 of eliminations
W 65–64OT 4–3 Loyola Center
Quezon City
8 Aug 19 • 3:30 pm Ateneo Blue Eagles L 62–72 4–4 Ninoy Aquino Stadium
Manila
9 Aug 22 • 3:30 pm De La Salle Green Archers W 66–63 5–4 Ninoy Aquino Stadium
Manila
10 Aug 29 • 1:00 pm Adamson Soaring Falcons W 67–63 6–4 Loyola Center
Quezon City
11 Sep 5 • 3:30 pm UP Fighting Maroons L 78–80 6–5 Ninoy Aquino Stadium
Manila
12 Sep 12 • 2:30 pm UE Red Warriors W 78–72 7–5 Araneta Coliseum
Quezon City
13 Sep 19 • 3:30 pm FEU Tamaraws L 58–65 7–6 Ninoy Aquino Stadium
Manila
14 Sep 26 • 1:00 pm NU Bulldogs
End of R2 of eliminations
L 74–78 7–7 Ninoy Aquino Stadium
Manila
Playoff for fourth seed: 1–0
Game Date • Time Seed Opponent Result Series High points High rebounds High assists Location
1 Sep 28 • 3:30 pm UP Fighting Maroons W 80–72 1–0
(8–7)
Ninoy Aquino Stadium
Manila
Final Four: 1–1
Game Date • Time Seed Opponent Result Series High points High rebounds High assists Location
1 Oct 1 • 1:00 pm (#4) (#1) De La Salle Green Archers W 55–51 1–0
(9–7)
Araneta Coliseum
Quezon City
2 Oct 3 • 3:30 pm (#4) (#1) De La Salle Green Archers L 51–56 1–1
(9–8)
Araneta Coliseum
Quezon City
(#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in UTC+08:00.
Source: UBelt.com (archived)

Awards

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Name Award Date Ref.
Team National Students—NCR champions Jan 1999 [5]
Richard Yee UAAP Mythical second team 7 Oct 1998

Players drafted into the PBA

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Richard Yee was picked fifth in the first round of the 1999 PBA draft by the Derrick Pumaren-led Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs team on January 16, 1999. Gerard Francisco was also selected in the same rookie draft as the tenth overall pick by the Adonis Tierra-coached Sta. Lucia Realtors.[6]

Dale Singson joined the Iloilo Megavoltz in the MBA from 1999 until the middle of the 2000 season after a buyout deal by the Shell Velocity team which sent him to the PBA during the 2000 All-Filipino Cup eliminations.[7]

Year Round Pick Overall Player PBA team
1999 1 5 5 Richard Yee Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs
1999 2 1 10 Gerard Francisco Sta. Lucia Realtors
2000 Signed as a free agent Dale Singson Shell Velocity

References

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  1. ^ "UAAP Men's Basketball". UBelt.com. 20 Jun 2007. Archived from the original on 20 June 2007. Retrieved 14 Jan 2009.
  2. ^ a b Giongco, Nick; Oredo, Lito. "(1998) UAAP Season 61". RP Basketball Photos & Articles. Retrieved 24 Jan 2012.
  3. ^ "SMB's Ildefonso in RP 5". Manila Standard. 16 Mar 1998.
  4. ^ "Socsargen Marlins". Manila Standard. 17 Feb 1998.
  5. ^ "Snafus bug students' cagefest". Manila Standard. 1 Mar 1999.
  6. ^ Villar, Joey; Beltran, Nelson. "Yee steers Hotdogs past Thunder". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 18 Jul 2001.
  7. ^ Beltran, Nelson (11 May 2000). "Singsons latest additions to PBA "Dribbling Siblings" circle". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 3 Apr 2011.