# 2015 UST Growling Tigers basketball team

The 2015 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team represented University of Santo Tomas in the 78th season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The men's basketball tournament for the school year 2015-16 began on September 5, 2015 and the host school for the season was the University of the Philippines.
UST made it back to the playoffs after getting eliminated in Season 77. They finished the double round-robin eliminations at first place with 11 wins against 3 losses. The FEU Tamaraws had the same win–loss record but were ranked lower on an inferior -10 quotient. The last time that the Tigers got the top seed was in 1995 when they won their third straight championship. It was also the last time that they won as many as 11 games at the end of eliminations in a season.
They had a twice-to-beat advantage over their Final Four opponent and defending champions, the NU Bulldogs who they defeated in one game to advance to the Finals against FEU. NU has been the Tigers' semifinal opponent for the third time in the last four years. UST became the fifth team in UAAP history to reach the Finals after missing the Final Four playoffs in the previous season.
In Game Two of the Finals series, Kevin Ferrer's 24 points in the third quarter broke the UAAP record for most points scored in a period. He tied his career-high of 29 points in their 62–56 win over FEU to extend the series to a deciding Game Three. In that game, UST was also able to limit the Tamaraws to their lowest scoring output, as they have not scored lower than 60 points in the season. FEU won the series in three games, ending a decade-long wait to claim their 20th men's basketball championship. The Tigers who had faced FEU in the Finals for the first time since 1979 won both games against them in the elimination rounds.
UST recorded the most three point shots made in the season with 89 for a league-best 31% field goal percentage. They also held the highest free throw conversion of 68.4% among all teams.
Graduating players Ferrer and Ed Daquioag were included in the Mythical team selection during the presentation of awards. Ferrer was chosen back-to-back Player of the Week by the UAAP Press Corps for the duration of September 23–27 and on the week of September 30-October 4, while Daquioag received the citation for the period of September 9–13.

## Roster
### Depth chart

| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 | Bench 3 |
| C | Abdul | Faundo | Caunan | |
| PF | Ferrer | Lao | Arana | |
| SF | Vigil | Bonleon | Huang | |
| SG | Daquioag | Lee | Suarez | |
| PG | Sheriff | Subido | Garrido | Abdurasad |

## Roster changes
### Subtractions

| Pos. | No. | Player | Height | Year | High school | Notes |
| SF | 5 | Kim Kaizen Lo | 6' 1" | 5th | St. Jude Catholic School | Graduated |
| PG | 9 | Levi dela Cruz, II | 5' 7" | 2nd | Nazareth School of National University | Transferred to Jose Maria College |
| SF | 10 | Aljon Mariano | 6' 3" | 5th | San Beda College–Rizal | Graduated |
| SF | 11 | Regie Boy Basibas | 6' 3" | 2nd | Arellano University High School | Out due to groin injury |
| PF | 12 | Jon Cornelius Macasaet | 6' 3" | 3rd | San Sebastian College-Recoletos | Out due to ACL injury |
| C | 13 | Paulo Lorenzo Pe | 6' 4" | 5th | Ateneo de Manila | Graduated |
| PF | 14 | Raymart Angelo Sablan | 6' 4" | 2nd | UP Integrated School | Transferred to University of the Philippines |
| SF | 16 | Alfren Gayosa | 6' 2" | 2nd | San Sebastian College-Recoletos | Transferred to San Sebastian College-Recoletos |

### Additions

| Pos. | No. | Player | Height | Year | High school | Notes |
| SG | 5 | Janus Kyle Christian Suarez | 6' 2" | 2nd | Ateneo de Manila | Transferred from University of the Philippines |
| SG | 9 | Dean Marvin Lee | 5' 8" | 1st | Far Eastern University–Diliman | Rookie |
| PG | 10 | Osama Said Abdurasad | 5' 10" | 1st | Kaunlaran High School | Rookie |
| C | 11 | Enrique Caunan, Jr. | 6' 5" | 1st | Colegio de San Juan de Letran | Rookie |
| PG | 12 | Janrey Garrido | 5' 6" | 2nd | Hope Christian High School | Returning from Season 75 |
| SF | 13 | Zachary Lance Eden Huang | 6' 4" | 1st | Sacred Heart School–Ateneo de Cebu | Rookie |
| SF | 14 | Mario Emmanuel Bonleon, Jr. | 6' 3" | 1st | La Salle Greenhills | Promoted from Team B |
| PF | 16 | Justin Arana | 6' 5" | 1st | Basud National High School | Rookie |

### Recruiting class

| Name | Pos. | Height | High school | Hometown | Commit date |
| Mario Bonleon | SF | 6' 3" | La Salle Greenhills | Davao City | 10 Jul 2013 |
| 2013 National Basketball Training Center Top 30 player |||||
| Marvin Lee | SG | 5' 8" | Far Eastern University–Diliman | Antipolo | 25 Apr 2015 |
| 2015 National Basketball Training Center Top 30 player |||||
| Zachary Huang | SF | 6' 4" | Sacred Heart School–Ateneo de Cebu | Cebu City | 9 Mar 2015 |
| 2015 NBTC rank: N/A (Division 1 champion) |||||
| Sources: 12345 ||||||

## Coaching staff

Estong Ballesteros, the Growling Tigers' assistant coach for offense and trainer has resigned from his post. He had informed head coach Bong dela Cruz of his decision to concentrate on coaching the Philippine National Police basketball team in the MBL and as deputy to Lawrence Chongson at Tanduay in the PBA D-League.
Rene Baena was hired to replace Ballesteros. The veteran coach who was a member of UST's track and field team was an assistant coach of the Adamson Baby Falcons juniors' basketball team. He has coached the juniors teams of La Salle Greenhills, Ateneo U13, and the San Beda Red Cubs in the past. He has also served as an assistant coach of the UE Red Warriors team that made it to the UAAP Finals in 2009.
Four-time Philippine Basketball Association MVP Alvin Patrimonio has also come on board as consultant and trainer of the team's big men.

## Injuries

Forwards Joco Macaseat and Regie Boy Basibas were excluded from the roster with both suffering from year-long injuries. Macasaet tore his ACL while lifting weights in the offseason, while Basibas had some issues with his groin.
Karim Abdul, Louie Vigil, and Kyle Suarez also fell to various injures in the summer, but all three were able to play in the UAAP. Abdul underwent surgery on his left knee in April to have his bone spurs removed. Vigil failed to suit for the Tigers in the Filoil Flying V tournament as he got sidelined by a hamstring injury, and while Suarez was able to play after recovering from an ACL injury in December, he reinjured it during a game against the De La Salle Green Archers in the first round.
Mario Bonleon and Renzo Subido also missed games during the season. Bonleon hurt his finger during practice and was not able to play against the Adamson Falcons in the first round, while Subido also had an ACL injury before their Finals series with FEU.

## Schedule and results
### Preseason tournaments

Preseason game log :
2015 Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup: 4–4 :
| Game | Date • Time | Opponent | Result | Record | High points | Location |
| 1 | Apr 25 • 2:00 pm | UE Red Warriors | L 59–60 | 0–1 | Bonleon (17) | Filoil Flying V Arena San Juan |
| 2 | Apr 29 • 5:00 pm | Mapúa Cardinals | W 78–59 | 1–1 | Bonleon (22) | Filoil Flying V Arena San Juan |
| 3 | May 2 • 5:00 pm | San Beda Red Lions | L 64–74 | 1–2 | Daquioag (29) | Filoil Flying V Arena San Juan |
| 4 | May 20 • 3:15 pm | UP Fighting Maroons | W 76–72 | 2–2 | Ferrer (19) | Filoil Flying V Arena San Juan |
| 5 | May 23 • 3:15 pm | CEU Scorpions | L 77–82 | 2–3 | Daquioag (34) | Filoil Flying V Arena San Juan |
| 6 | May 27 • 11:45 am | Lyceum Pirates | W 72–66 | 3–3 | Daquioag (16) | Filoil Flying V Arena San Juan |
| 7 | Jun 3 • 1:30 pm | SWU Cobras | W 66–59 | 4–3 | Daquioag (22) | Filoil Flying V Arena San Juan |
| 8 | Jun 6 • 5:00 pm | De La Salle Green Archers | L 82–84 | 4–4 | Daquioag (20) | Filoil Flying V Arena San Juan |
21st Fr. Martin Cup Summer basketball tournament: 5–2 :
| Game | Date • Time | Opponent | Result | Record | High points | Location |
| 1 | May 18 | Letran Knights | W 84–82$^{OT}$ | 1–0 | Magno (26) | St. Placid Gym Manila |
| 2 | May 19 | JRU Heavy Bombers | L 66–93 | 1–1 | | St. Placid Gym Manila |
| 3 | May 26 | NU Bulldogs | W 70–55 | 2–1 | Bonleon (17) | St. Placid Gym Manila |
| 4 | Jun 2 | Enderun Colleges Titans | W 75–72 | 3–1 | Sheriff (13) | St. Placid Gym Manila |
| 5 | Jun 8 | Arellano Chiefs Quarterfinal round | W 73–68 | 4–1 | | Arellano Gym Manila |
| 6 | Jun 15 | San Beda Red Lions Semifinal round | W 75–72 | 5–1 | Lao (22) | Arellano Gym Manila |
| 7 | Jun 17 | JRU Heavy Bonbers Championship game | L 65–73 | 5–2 | Tied (18) | Arellano Gym Manila |
(#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in UTC+08:00.
↑ Jasper Magno was a member of the Team B training pool :

### UAAP games

Elimination games were played in a double round-robin format. All games were aired on ABS-CBN Sports and Action and Balls. The second game of the Finals series was aired on ABS-CBN and Balls.
UAAP Season 78 game log :
Elimination round: 11–3 :
| Game | Date • Time | Opponent | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Location |
| 1 | Sep 5 • 4:00 pm | Adamson Soaring Falcons | W 70–64 | 1–0 | Daquioag (28) | Ferrer (8) | Ferrer (4) | Smart Araneta Coliseum Quezon City |
| 2 | Sep 9 • 4:00 pm | FEU Tamaraws | W 72–71 | 2–0 | Daquioag (18) | Ferrer (8) | Sheriff (3) | Smart Araneta Coliseum Quezon City |
| 3 | Sep 13 • 2:00 pm | UP Fighting Maroons | W 67–59 | 3–0 | Daquioag (27) | Ferrer (10) | Sheriff (2) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 4 | Sep 19 • 4:00 pm | NU Bulldogs | L 54–55 | 3–1 | Ferrer (14) | Ferrer (11) | Tied (3) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 5 | Sep 26 • 4:00 pm | Ateneo Blue Eagles | W 68–58 | 4–1 | Ferrer (27) | Abdul (11) | Daquioag (3) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 6 | Sep 30 • 4:00 pm | De La Salle Green Archers | W 77–61 | 5–1 | Ferrer (27) | Abdul (13) | Sheriff (5) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 7 | Oct 7 • 2:00 pm | UE Red Warriors End of R1 of eliminations | W 83–76 | 6–1 | Daquioag (34) | Abdul (10) | Daquioag (6) | Smart Araneta Coliseum Quezon City |
| 8 | Oct 12 • 4:00 pm | De La Salle Green Archers | W 81–79 | 7–1 | Abdul (18) | Tied (11) | Ferrer (2) | Smart Araneta Coliseum Quezon City |
| 9 | Oct 17 • 4:00 pm | NU Bulldogs | W 62–57 | 8–1 | Tied (13) | Ferrer (10) | Vigil (3) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 10 | Oct 21 • 4:00 pm | Ateneo Blue Eagles | L 74–80 | 8–2 | Daquioag (19) | Tied (9) | Daquioag (3) | Smart Araneta Coliseum Quezon City |
| 11 | Oct 25 • 4:00 pm | UP Fighting Maroons | W 83–76 | 9–2 | Ferrer (29) | Ferrer (14) | Vigil (6) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 12 | Nov 4 • 2:00 pm | UE Red Warriors | L 77–91 | 9–3 | Abdul (25) | Abdul (15) | Daquioag (6) | Smart Araneta Coliseum Quezon City |
| 13 | Nov 7 • 4:00 pm | FEU Tamaraws | W 85–76 | 10–3 | Abdul (23) | Vigil (7) | Abdul (3) | Smart Araneta Coliseum Quezon City |
| 14 | Nov 11 • 2:00 pm | Adamson Soaring Falcons End of R2 of eliminations | W 78–63 | 11–3 | Ferrer (25) | Ferrer (10) | Tied (4) | Smart Araneta Coliseum Quezon City |
Final Four: 2–0 :
| Game | Date • Time | Seed | Opponent | Result | Series | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Location |
| 1 | Nov 22 • 3:30 pm | (#1) | (#4) NU Bulldogs | W 64–55 | 1–0 (12–3) | Vigil (19) | Vigil (10) | Vigil (7) | Smart Araneta Coliseum Quezon City |
Finals: 1–2 :
| Game | Date • Time | Seed | Opponent | Result | Series | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Location |
| 1 | Nov 25 • 3:30 pm | (#1) | (#2) FEU Tamaraws | L 64–75 | 0–1 (12–4) | Abdul (19) | Abdul (9) | Tied (1) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 2 | Nov 28 • 3:30 pm | (#1) | (#2) FEU Tamaraws | W 62–56 | 1–1 (13–4) | Ferrer (29) | Ferrer (10) | Daquioag (4) | Smart Araneta Coliseum Quezon City |
| 3 | Dec 2 • 3:30 pm | (#1) | (#2) FEU Tamaraws | L 62–67 | 1–2 (13–5) | Daquioag (21) | Vigil (7) | Tied (2) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
(#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in UTC+08:00. Source: HumbleBola :

### Postseason tournament

The Philippine Collegiate Champions League games were aired on ABS-CBN Sports and Action.
Postseason game log :
2015 PCCL National Collegiate Championship: 0–1 :
| Game | Date • Time | Opponent | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Location |
| 1 | Dec 15 • 4:00 pm | USC Warriors Elite Eight knockout stepladder rounds | L 72–82 | 0–1 | Daquioag (17) | | | Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan |
(#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in UTC+08:00. :

## UAAP statistics
### Eliminations

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TOV | PPG |
| Kevin Ferrer | 14 | 14 | 31.5 | 71 | 177 | 40.1 | 32 | 92 | 34.8 | 77 | 99 | 77.8 | 8.2 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 17.9 |
| Ed Daquioag | 14 | 14 | 34.5 | 89 | 211 | 42.2 | 7 | 41 | 17.1 | 45 | 66 | 68.2 | 5.6 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 16.4 |
| Karim Abdul | 14 | 14 | 29.4 | 59 | 136 | 43.4 | 2 | 5 | 40.0 | 57 | 86 | 66.3 | 8.4 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 2.4 | 12.6 |
| Louie Vigil | 14 | 8 | 24.1 | 49 | 115 | 42.6 | 11 | 42 | 26.2 | 21 | 35 | 60.0 | 4.8 | 2.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 9.3 |
| Marvin Lee | 14 | 2 | 19.8 | 25 | 62 | 40.3 | 14 | 37 | 37.8 | 23 | 29 | 79.3 | 2.9 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 6.2 |
| Mario Bonleon | 13 | 6 | 16.6 | 23 | 58 | 39.7 | 8 | 23 | 34.8 | 4 | 7 | 57.1 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 4.5 |
| Kent Lao | 14 | 2 | 17.1 | 15 | 51 | 29.4 | 11 | 34 | 32.4 | 6 | 9 | 66.7 | 2.9 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 3.4 |
| Jon Sheriff | 14 | 10 | 17.2 | 11 | 44 | 25.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 10 | 25 | 40.0 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 2.3 |
| Kyle Suarez | 6 | 0 | 14.3 | 3 | 5 | 66.0 | 3 | 3 | 100.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| Renzo Subido | 12 | 0 | 5.9 | 2 | 13 | 15.4 | 1 | 9 | 11.1 | 3 | 4 | 75.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| Jeepy Faundo | 10 | 0 | 3.1 | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 4 | 75.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Zach Huang | 6 | 0 | 2.3 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Justin Arana | 2 | 0 | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Janrey Garrido | 6 | 0 | 0.8 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Enric Caunan | 4 | 0 | 0.6 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Ama Abdurasad | 4 | 0 | 0.5 | 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 | | 40.0 | 348 | 877 | 39.7 | 89 | 287 | 31.0 | 249 | 364 | 68.4 | 40.6 | 11.9 | 4.9 | 3.2 | 16.4 | 73.9 |
| Opponents | 14 | | 40.0 | 345 | 908 | 38.0 | 78 | 299 | 26.1 | 198 | 307 | 64.5 | 44.1 | 13.1 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 18.7 | 69.0 |

### Playoffs

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TOV | PPG |
| Kevin Ferrer | 4 | 4 | 34.8 | 22 | 59 | 37.3 | 9 | 30 | 30.0 | 8 | 15 | 53.3 | 6.3 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 15.3 |
| Karim Abdul | 4 | 4 | 31.2 | 14 | 40 | 35.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 20 | 29 | 69.0 | 7.3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 3.0 | 12.0 |
| Ed Daquioag | 4 | 4 | 32.9 | 15 | 46 | 32.6 | 1 | 9 | 11.1 | 12 | 16 | 75.0 | 5.8 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.5 | 10.8 |
| Louie Vigil | 4 | 4 | 28.7 | 16 | 50 | 32.0 | 2 | 16 | 12.5 | 4 | 7 | 57.1 | 6.3 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 9.5 |
| Marvin Lee | 4 | 0 | 17.6 | 6 | 16 | 37.5 | 3 | 13 | 23.1 | 7 | 9 | 77.8 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 5.5 |
| Mario Bonleon | 4 | 0 | 16.4 | 7 | 14 | 50.0 | 2 | 7 | 28.6 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 4.0 |
| Jon Sheriff | 4 | 3 | 15.0 | 6 | 11 | 54.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 12 | 33.3 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 4.0 |
| Kent Lao | 4 | 1 | 18.0 | 2 | 14 | 14.3 | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 3 | 4 | 75.0 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 2.0 |
| Zach Huang | 2 | 0 | 4.4 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Jeepy Faundo | 4 | 0 | 3.2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Total | 4 | | 40.0 | 88 | 250 | 35.2 | 18 | 85 | 21.2 | 58 | 94 | 61.7 | 39.0 | 8.5 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 12.5 | 63.0 |
| Opponents | 4 | | 40.0 | 83 | 259 | 32.0 | 18 | 90 | 20.0 | 69 | 97 | 71.1 | 50.8 | 10.0 | 2.0 | 3.3 | 17.3 | 63.3 |

## Awards

| Name | Award | Date |
| Team | Fr. Martin Cup runner-up trophy | 17 Jun 2015 |
| Team | UAAP runner-up trophy | 2 Dec 2015 |
| Ed Daquioag | Mythical team | 28 Nov 2015 |
| Ed Daquioag | Appeton Most Improved Player | 28 Nov 2015 |
| Ed Daquioag | Player of the Week | 9–13 Sep 2015 |
| Kevin Ferrer | Mythical team | 28 Nov 2015 |
| Kevin Ferrer | Bear Brand Adult Plus Level Up Player | 28 Nov 2015 |
| Kevin Ferrer | Player of the Week | 23–27 Sep 2015 |
| Kevin Ferrer | Player of the Week | 30 Sep–4 Oct 2015 |

## Players drafted into the PBA

Kevin Ferrer and Ed Daquioag, both members of the Gilas national team training pool applied for the 2016 PBA draft and were selected through a special draft separate from the regular rookie applicants on October 30, 2016.
Ferrer was selected by the Tim Cone-led Barangay Ginebra San Miguel team as the second pick, while Daquioag ended up with the Norman Black-coached Meralco Bolts for the special draft's sixth overall pick.
| Year | Round | Pick | Overall | Player | PBA team |
| 2016 | Special draft for Gilas players | 2 | 2 | Kevin Ferrer | Barangay Ginebra San Miguel |
| 2016 | Special draft for Gilas players | 6 | 6 | Ed Daquioag | Meralco Bolts |