# 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.
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.
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.

## Roster
### Depth chart

| 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

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.

### Subtractions

| Pos. | No. | 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

| Pos. | No. | 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

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.

## Schedule and results
### Preseason tournaments

Preseason game log :
1993 Philippine Commercial Basketball League–Invitational Tournament: 5–1 :
| Game | Date • Time | Opponent | Result | Record | High points | 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 | 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

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 | 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

Postseason game log :
1994 UAAP Invitational Cup: 3–2 :
| Game | Date • Time | Opponent | Result | Record | High points | 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

| Name | Award | Date |
| Team | UAAP champions | 18 Sep 1993 |
| Dennis Espino | Season MVP | 18 Sep 1993 |
| Dennis Espino | Mythical first team | 18 Sep 1993 |
| Rey Evangelista | Mythical first team | 18 Sep 1993 |
| Patrick Fran | Mythical first team | 18 Sep 1993 |
| Rudolf Belmonte | Mythical second team | 18 Sep 1993 |

## Players drafted into the PBA

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