1993 UST Growling Tigers basketball team

The 1993 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team represented University of Santo Tomas in the 56th season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The men's basketball tournament for the school year 1993–94 began on July 17, 1993, and the host school for the season was Far Eastern University.[1]

1993 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball
UAAP Season 56 champions
Record
Elims rank #1
Final rank#1
1993 recordAutomatic champions (14–0 elims)
Head coachAric del Rosario (7th season)
Assistant coachesBoy Ascue
Binky Favis
CaptainPatrick Fran (5th season)
Seasons
← 1992
1994 →

The Tigers went undefeated with a 14–0 record, in the year that was supposedly the first time that the Final Four semifinal playoff format was to take place in the UAAP tournament. Existing league rules stipulated that a team that wins all their games in the double round-robin eliminations is declared automatic champion, making UST the winners for the first time since their shared championship with the UE Red Warriors in 1967.[2]

They had an average winning margin of 15.8 points with five blowout wins over the Ateneo Blue Eagles, the NU Bulldogs, and the UP Fighting Maroons. UST won twice over Ateneo by 27 and 28 points in each elimination rounds. They also defeated NU in both rounds with deficits of 31 and 27 points, and had a 32-point lead in their win against UP in the second round.

Dennis Espino was named Season MVP, and together with Rey Evangelista and team captain Patrick Fran, they were selected to the Mythical first team. Udoy Belmonte was included in the second team.[3]

Roster

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UST Growling Tigers roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Year High School
SF 4   Francisco Guinto 6'3" (1.91m) 1st
PF 5   Edmund Reyes 6'3" (1.91m) 4th Good Shepherd Academy
SG 6   Lester Andrew del Rosario 5'11" (1.8m) 2nd University of Santo Tomas
PF 7   Reynaldo Evangelista 6'4" (1.93m) 5th St. Peter’s College of Ormoc
SG 8   Patrick Roy Fran (C) 6'0" (1.83m) 5th Aquinas School
SG 9   Rudolf Belmonte 5'11" (1.8m) 5th San Beda College
SF 10   Alexander Tan 6'2" (1.88m) 2nd
PG 11   Bal David, Jr. 5'9" (1.75m) 2nd University of Santo Tomas
SG 13   Danilo Abugan 6'1" (1.85m) 2nd
PG 14   Bethune Tanquingcen 5'9" (1.75m) 4th Philippine Cultural High School
C 15   Christopher Cantonjos 6'6" (1.98m) 1st Colegio de San Juan de Letran
C 16   Dennis Espino 6'6" (1.98m) 4th Holy Angel University
SF 17   Generoso Tengco, Jr. 6'0" (1.83m) 4th University of Santo Tomas
PG 18   Rizaldy Ramos 5'9" (1.75m) 5th Mapúa Institute of Technology
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Team manager
  • Benito Lim
  • Timmy Koh Teng Chong

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  •   Injured

Depth chart

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Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Espino Cantonjos
PF Evangelista Reyes Tan
SF Tengco Guinto Del Rosario
SG Belmonte Fran Abugan
PG David Tanquingcen Ramos

Roster changes

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The Tigers' starting point guard Binky Favis and national team members Rene Cabaluna and Jay Torres have already graduated and are replaced by two rookies, a transferee, and a returning player. UST has managed to recruit point guard Taddy Ramos from the Mapúa Cardinals, the 1991 NCAA champions for a one-and-done season. The 6-6 center Chris Cantonjos, out of the Letran Knights juniors basketball team was scouted by the Tigers' assistant coach Mady Tabora during one of his PBL team's tune-up games. Tabora, who was the coach of the Burger Machine team invited Cantonjos to try out with UST and is now included in this season's lineup.[4][5]

Subtractions

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Pos. No. Nat. Player Height Year High school Notes
SG 10   Romel David 5' 10" 2nd Mapúa Institute of Technology Academic deficiencies
PG 18   Vincent Kenneth Favis 5' 11" 4th La Salle Greenhills Graduated
PF   Joaquin Dindo Torres 6' 4" 5th University of Santo Tomas Graduated
PF   Renato Cabaluna 6' 3" 5th University of Santo Tomas Graduated
PF   Ernesto Ballesteros 6' 4" 2nd Mapúa Institute of Technology Academic deficiencies

Additions

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Pos. No. Nat. Player Height Year High school Notes
SF 4   Francisco Guinto 6' 3" 1st Rookie
SG 13   Danilo Abugan 6' 1" 2nd Returning from Season 54
C 15   Christopher Cantonjos 6' 6" 1st Colegio de San Juan de Letran Rookie
PG 18   Rizaldy Ramos 5' 9" 5th Mapúa Institute of Technology Transferred from Mapúa Institute of Technology

Coaching staff

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Assistant coach and team trainer Mady Tabora died from a heart attack in the offseason while on vacation in his hometown in Cebu City. The former Glowing Goldie who was also the head coach of UST's high school basketball team was replaced by the recently graduated Binky Favis as Aric del Rosario's deputy.[6]

Schedule and results

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Preseason tournaments

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Preseason game log
1993 Philippine Commercial Basketball League–Invitational Tournament: 5–1
Game Date • Time Opponent Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Location
1 Apr 13 San Sebastian Stags W 97–87 1–0 Belmonte (39) Malolos Gym
Bulacan
2 Apr 16 Merville W 68–67 2–0 Fran (17) FEU Gym
Manila
3 Apr 17 San Juan L 63–71 2–1 Simolde (11) La Salle Gym
Mandaluyong
4 Apr 22 Don Bosco Tondo W 92–61 3–1 Del Rosario (20) FEU Gym
Manila
5 May 18 De La Salle Green Archers W 79–59 4–1 Fran (17) UST Gym
Manila
6 May 21 FEU Tamaraws W 89–69 5–1 La Salle Gym
Mandaluyong
1993 FCBL Senior Invitational: 2–3
Game Date • Time Opponent Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Location
1 May 13 Letran Knights L 74–77 0–1 Cantonjos (15) Arellano Legarda Gym Manila
2 May 16 De La Salle Green Archers W 65–56 1–1 Evangelista (17) Arellano Legarda Gym Manila
3 May 18 San Beda Red Lions L 66–73 1–2 Espino (23) Arellano Legarda Gym Manila
4 May 23 Mapúa Cardinals L 71–79 1–3 Fran (20) Arellano Legarda Gym Manila
5 May 25 Letran Knights W 90–87 2–3 Fran (20) Arellano Legarda Gym Manila
(#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in UTC+08:00.

UAAP games

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Elimination games were played in a double round-robin format. All games were aired on RPN 9 by Silverstar Sports.

UAAP Season 56 game log
Elimination round: 14–0
Game Date • Time Opponent Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Location
1 Jul 17 • 3:00 pm Ateneo Blue Eagles W 93–66 1–0 Espino (21) Belmonte (8) Araneta Coliseum
Quezon City
2 Jul 24 De La Salle Green Archers W 80–70 2–0 Belmonte (29) Espino (11) Loyola Center
Quezon City
3 Jul 27 NU Bulldogs W 107–76 3–0 Loyola Center
Quezon City
4 Jul 31 Adamson Soaring Falcons W 85–78 4–0 Espino (27) Reyes Loyola Center
Quezon City
5 Aug 7 FEU Tamaraws W 78–66 5–0 Loyola Center
Quezon City
6 Aug 10 UP Fighting Maroons W 87–76 6–0 Loyola Center
Quezon City
7 Aug 14 UE Red Warriors
End of R1 of eliminations
W 82–77 7–0 Loyola Center
Quezon City
8 Aug 22 NU Bulldogs W 99–72 8–0 Espino (24) Loyola Center
Quezon City
9 Aug 25 UE Red Warriors W 73–68 9–0 Loyola Center
Quezon City
10 Aug 29 UP Fighting Maroons W 93–61 10–0 Loyola Center
Quezon City
11 Sep 1 Ateneo Blue Eagles W 113–85 11–0 Loyola Center
Quezon City
12 Sep 4 • 5:30 pm FEU Tamaraws W 66–58 12–0 Fran (13) Loyola Center
Quezon City
13 Sep 11 • 3:15 pm De La Salle Green Archers W 95–84 13–0 Espino (22) Loyola Center
Quezon City
14 Sep 18 Adamson Falcons
End of R2 of eliminations
W 75–68 14–0 Belmonte (23) Araneta Coliseum
Quezon City
(#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in UTC+08:00.
Source: SPIN.ph

Postseason tournament

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Postseason game log
1994 UAAP Invitational Cup: 3–2
Game Date • Time Opponent Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Location
1 Jan 22 • 12:00 pm De La Salle Green Archers W 68–57 1–0 Reyes (18) Loyola Center
Quezon City
2 Jan 23 • 4:30 pm FEU Tamaraws L 66–71 1–1 Reyes (22) Loyola Center
Quezon City
3 Jan 26 • 3:00 pm Ateneo Blue Eagles W 66–47 2–1 Tan (13) Loyola Center
Quezon City
4 Jan 29 • 3:00 pm Adamson Soaring Falcons L 72–73 2–2 R. David (20) Loyola Center
Quezon City
5 Jan 30 • 3:00 pm NU Bulldogs W 80–70 3–2 Tied (15) Loyola Center
Quezon City
(#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in UTC+08:00.

Awards

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Name Award Date Ref.
Team UAAP champions 18 Sep 1993 [3]
Dennis Espino Season MVP
Mythical first team
Rey Evangelista Mythical first team
Patrick Fran
Rudolf Belmonte Mythical second team

Players drafted into the PBA

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Rey Evangelista was chosen second overall in the 1994 PBA draft by the Chot Reyes-led Coney Island Ice Cream Stars team on January 16, 1994. Udoy Belmonte also got selected in the same rookie draft and was picked 16th overall in the second round by the Yeng Guiao-coached Swift Mighty Meaties team. Patrick Fran and Siot Tanquingcen, meanwhile applied for the 1996 PBA draft on January 21, 1996, with Fran getting picked in the second round by the Purefoods TJ Hotdogs and Tanquingcen going undrafted. The Sunkist Orange Bottlers, however, signed Tanquingcen late in the 1996 PBA season to a one-month contract to replace the injured Boybits Victoria.[7][8][9]

Year Round Pick Overall Player PBA team
1994 1 2 2 Rey Evangelista Coney Island Ice Cream Stars
2 8 16 Rudolf Belmonte Swift Mighty Meaties
1996 2 2 10 Patrick Fran Purefoods TJ Hotdogs
Signed as a rookie free agent Siot Tanquingcen Sunkist Orange Bottlers

References

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  1. ^ "UAAP opens July 17; games aired on '9'". Manila Standard. 28 Jun 1993.
  2. ^ "Two champions". The Varsitarian. 29 Oct 1968. Retrieved 5 Mar 2009.
  3. ^ a b Leongson, Randolph. "As Ateneo targets perfect season, let's look back at last team to pull it off". SPIN.ph. Retrieved 16 Nov 2019.
  4. ^ "1990–1991 back-to-back NCAA champions Mapua Cardinals". Retrieved 3 Dec 2013.
  5. ^ Ramos, Chenny. "'Gentle Giant' of the UST hard court". The Varsitarian. Retrieved 13 Mar 2012.
  6. ^ "UST assistant coach dies". Manila Standard. 12 Feb 1993.
  7. ^ Nazareno, Rocky (17 Jan 1994). "PBA rookie draft: Surprises, surprises". Manila Standard.
  8. ^ Henson, Joaquin. "Sporting Chance: When Siot was snubbed". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 16 Jul 2004.
  9. ^ Henson, Joaquin. "Sporting Chance: Siot, the Never-Say-Die kid". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 1 Jul 2004.