# 2021 UST Growling Tigers basketball team

The 2021 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team represented University of Santo Tomas in the 84th season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The men's basketball tournament for the academic year 2021-22 began in the second semester on March 26, 2022, and the host school for the season was De La Salle University.
The Tigers tied their second worst record in the Final Four era after winning only three games against eleven losses which they also had in the 2016 season. After ending the first round of eliminations on a 2–5 record, the team won only one game before going on a six-game losing streak to end the tournament, which was marked by blowout losses that broke the UAAP record for the largest losing margins.
They began their season with a 25-point loss against the FEU Tamaraws in a game played behind closed doors. The UAAP had earlier decided to hold the first four playing schedules under a bubble setup in observance of COVID-19 safety precautions. UST had five more blowout losses in the season that included their 44-point marginal defeat against FEU in their last playing date in the second round to surpass their 43-point loss to the De La Salle Green Archers back in 2016. Their 50-point loss to the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the second round set the mark for the league's biggest losing margin since 2003. They also lost against the NU Bulldogs by 31 points in the first round, and by 29 points each to La Salle and the UP Fighting Maroons in the second round. Their 83–112 defeat against the Green Archers enabled their opponents to breach the 100-point barrier in the season.

## Roster

UST has listed Ivan Lazarte, Rafael Pangilinan, Rafael Biag, and Patrick Javier on their reserve list, where any of the four players can be activated to replace players who would test positive for COVID-19.

### Depth chart

| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 | Bench 3 |
| C | Ando | Santos | Herrera | |
| PF | Concepcion | Manaytay | Gomez de Liaño | |
| SF | Cabañero | Mantua | Canoy | Samudio |
| SG | M. Pangilinan | Garing | Gesalem | |
| PG | Fontanilla | Manalang | Yongco | |

## Roster changes

13 out of the 16 players from the 2019 UAAP runner-up team have departed. Renzo Subido, Zach Huang, and Enric Caunan have already graduated, while the majority went on to transfer to rival colleges at the height of the school's training bubble controversy. Season 82 Most Valuable Player Soulémane Chabi Yo forwent his final playing year in the collegiate ranks to play in the Liga EBA in Spain. The extended lockdowns and the cancellation of Season 83, despite the league's extension of eligibility of players caused the Beninese center's exit from the team.

### Subtractions

| Pos. | No. | Player | Height | Year | High school | Notes |
| PF | 0 | Ira Spencer Bataller | 6' 4" | 3rd | Arellano University High School | Transferred to Colegio de San Juan de Letran |
| SF | 3 | Brent Isaac Paraiso | 6' 2" | 4th | De La Salle Santiago Zobel School | Transferred to Colegio de San Juan de Letran |
| PG | 5 | Henri Lorenzo Subido | 5' 9" | 5th | De La Salle Santiago Zobel School | Graduated |
| PG | 6 | Mark Nonoy | 5' 8" | 2nd | University of Santo Tomas | Transferred to De La Salle University |
| SG | 10 | Rhenz Joseph Abando | 6' 2" | 4th | Bactad East National High School | Transferred to Colegio de San Juan de Letran |
| C | 11 | Enrique Caunan, Jr. | 6' 5" | 5th | Colegio de San Juan de Letran | Graduated |
| SF | 13 | Zachary Lance Eden Huang | 6' 4" | 5th | Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu | Graduated |
| PF | 16 | Nathaniel Cosejo | 6' 3" | 3rd | De La Salle Santiago Zobel School | Transferred to Emilio Aguinaldo College |
| SF | 19 | Ferdinand Asuncion, Jr. | 6' 2" | 2nd | Chiang Kai-shek College | Transferred to Mapúa University |
| SG | 21 | Alberto Bordeos, Jr. | 6' 0" | 2nd | La Salle Greenhills | Academic deficiencies |
| C | 23 | Soulémane Chabi Yo | 6' 6" | 3rd | Université d'Abomey-Calavi | Forwent final year to play in the Liga EBA |
| SG | 27 | Crispin John Cansino | 6' 2" | 3rd | University of Santo Tomas | Transferred to the University of the Philippines |
| SG | 30 | Vince Petdeo Cuajao | 6' 1" | 2nd | Holy Child College of Davao | Transferred to De La Salle University |

### Additions

| Pos. | No. | Player | Height | Year | High school | Notes |
| PF | 4 | Christian Manaytay | 6' 4" | 1st | Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu | Transferred from De La Salle University |
| C | 5 | Ian Joseph Herrera | 6' 6" | 2nd | La Salle Greenhills | Transferred from De La Salle University |
| SF | 6 | Josemaria Ignacio Gomez de Liaño | 6' 5" | 1st | UP Integrated School | Rookie |
| PG | 7 | Joshua Fontanilla | 5' 11" | 4th | St. Clare College of Novaliches | Transferred from St. Clare College of Caloocan |
| SF | 9 | Nicael Dominie Cabañero | 6' 3" | 1st | University of Santo Tomas | Rookie |
| SG | 10 | Aldave Dale Canoy | 6' 1" | 1st | STI WNU Integrated School | Transferred from STI West Negros University |
| SF | 12 | Royce Deakin Mantua | 6' 4" | 1st | Far Eastern University-Diliman | Rookie |
| SF | 13 | Bryan Samudio | 6' 4" | 1st | Malayan High School of Science | Promoted from Team B |
| PG | 16 | Paul Matthew Manalang | 5' 10" | 1st | Nazareth School of National University | Transferred from the University of the East |
| PG | 18 | Renzel Symon Yongco | 6' 1" | 1st | Saint Jude Catholic School | Transferred from De La Salle University |
| SG | 20 | JC Alvin Garing | 5' 9" | 1st | Lyceum of the Philippines University | Rookie |
| PG | 24 | Jonathan Ralf Gesalem | 6' 0" | 1st | Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu | Promoted from Team B |
| PF | 26 | Bryan Santos | 6' 5" | 4th | San Luis National High School | Transferred from TIP |

### Recruiting class

| Name | Pos. | Height | High school | Hometown | Commit date |
| Christian Manaytay | PF | 6' 4" | Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu | Roxas City | 22 Nov 2019 |
| 2018 NBTC rank: N/A (Division 1 semifinalist) |||||
| Jordi Gomez de Liaño | SF | 6' 5" | UP Integrated School | Metro Manila | 10 Jun 2021 |
| 2020 NBTC UAAP rank: #22; 2018 NBTC Elite 60 rank: #41 |||||
| Nic Cabañero | SF | 6' 3" | University of Santo Tomas | Lapu-Lapu City | 18 Jun 2021 |
| 2018 NBTC Elite 60 rank: #50 |||||
| Aldave Canoy | SG | 6' 1" | West Negros University Integrated School | Bacolod | 24 Feb 2020 |
| 2019 NBTC rank: N/A (Visayas regional champion) |||||
| Royce Mantua | SF | 6' 4" | Far Eastern University-Diliman | Sydney | 15 Jun 2021 |
| 2018 NBTC Elite 60 rank: #22 |||||
| Sources: 123456789 ||||||

## Coaching changes

Aldin Ayo resigned as head coach of the Growling Tigers on September 4, 2020 amid ongoing investigations on the team's training bubble controversy. The UAAP later handed Ayo an indefinite ban from all league-sanctioned activities, having found the seasoned coach liable in endangering the health and well-being of his team by holding a training camp during the pandemic.
Resigned assistant coach and Tiger Cubs head coach Jino Manansala was called back by the Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA) and was appointed interim coach of the team to replace Ayo on October 8, 2020. IPEA earlier announced the start of the basketball program's rebuilding phase as it was moving forward without a permanent head coach.
Returning with Manansala were assistant coaches McJour Luib, Joph Cleopas, JR Carlos, and Jason Misolas. Ryan David Roxas took over as team manager, together with UST's deam of Civil Law Nilo Divina as sponsor to replace Jimi Lim after his Ironcon Builders withdrew its support as the team's sponsor.

## Schedule and results

Elimination games were played in a double round-robin format and all of UST's games were televised on One Sports and the UAAP Varsity Channel.
UAAP Season 84 game log :
Elimination round: 3–11 :
| Game | Date • Time | Opponent | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Location |
| 1 | Mar 26 • 10:34 am | FEU Tamaraws | L 51–76 | 0–1 | Fontanilla (19) | Gomez de Liaño (11) | Tied (3) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 2 | Mar 29 • 7:16 pm | UP Fighting Maroons | L 82–98 | 0–2 | Concepcion (19) | Manaytay (7) | Tied (4) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 3 | Mar 31 • 7:06 pm | UE Red Warriors | W 74–62 | 1–2 | Concepcion (25) | Santos (12) | Fontanilla (8) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 4 | Apr 2 • 4:00 pm | Adamson Soaring Falcons | W 79–72 | 2–2 | Manalang (15) | Santos (8) | Manalang (5) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 5 | Apr 5 • 10:12 am | De La Salle Green Archers | L 66–75 | 2–3 | Tied (20) | Cabañero (10) | Manaytay (2) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 6 | Apr 7 • 1:00 pm | NU Bulldogs | L 51–82 | 2–4 | Cabañero (11) | Cabañero (8) | Cabañero (3) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 7 | Apr 9 • 4:00 pm | Ateneo Blue Eagles End of R1 of eliminations | L 80–91 | 2–5 | Concepcion (22) | Cabañero (9) | Fontanilla (6) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 8 | Apr 12 • 4:30 pm | UE Red Warriors | W 72–61 | 3–5 | Concepcion (17) | Ando (12) | Fontanilla (5) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 9 | Apr 19 • 12:35 pm | De La Salle Green Archers | L 83–112 | 3–6 | Manalang (14) | Tied (7) | Fontanilla (6) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 10 | Apr 21 • 10:05 am | Ateneo Blue Eagles | L 51–101 | 3–7 | Cabañero (18) | Fontanilla (7) | Fontanilla (4) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 11 | Apr 23 • 10:05 am | Adamson Soaring Falcons | L 69–80 | 3–8 | Fontanilla (23) | Concepcion (11) | Manalang (5) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 12 | Apr 26 • 7:00 pm | NU Bulldogs | L 60–73 | 3–9 | Cabañero (13) | Cabañero (15) | Fontanilla (4) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 13 | Apr 28 • 7:03 pm | UP Fighting Maroons | L 67–96 | 3–10 | Pangilinan (21) | Tied (7) | Tied (4) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
| 14 | May 1 • 12:42 pm | FEU Tamaraws End of R2 of eliminations | L 65–109 | 3–11 | Cabañero (16) | Ando (6) | Fontanilla (3) | Mall of Asia Arena Pasay |
(#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in UTC+08:00. Source: Imperium Technology :

## Individual statistics

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TOV | PPG |
| Nic Cabañero | 14 | 7 | 25.4 | 62 | 159 | 39.0 | 12 | 49 | 24.5 | 38 | 68 | 55.9 | 6.3 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 2.9 | 12.4 |
| Joshua Fontanilla | 14 | 10 | 23.1 | 60 | 154 | 39.0 | 10 | 39 | 25.6 | 33 | 50 | 66.0 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 4.6 | 11.6 |
| Sherwin Concepcion | 14 | 12 | 26.6 | 52 | 149 | 34.9 | 33 | 111 | 29.7 | 12 | 20 | 60.0 | 5.6 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 10.6 |
| Paul Manalang | 14 | 5 | 24.6 | 28 | 95 | 29.5 | 22 | 72 | 30.6 | 28 | 31 | 90.3 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 2.0 | 7.7 |
| Bryan Santos | 11 | 3 | 18.1 | 25 | 77 | 32.5 | 13 | 50 | 26.0 | 8 | 15 | 53.3 | 5.9 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 6.5 |
| Christian Manaytay | 14 | 4 | 15.9 | 25 | 58 | 43.1 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 | 19 | 36 | 52.8 | 3.9 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 4.9 |
| Dave Ando | 14 | 7 | 14.8 | 26 | 68 | 38.2 | 1 | 15 | 6.7 | 4 | 15 | 26.7 | 5.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 4.1 |
| Migs Pangilinan | 14 | 8 | 17.4 | 18 | 59 | 30.5 | 7 | 37 | 18.9 | 15 | 18 | 83.3 | 3.1 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 4.1 |
| Jordi Gomez de Liaño | 12 | 1 | 5.5 | 9 | 34 | 26.5 | 7 | 27 | 25.9 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 2.1 |
| Royce Mantua | 11 | 4 | 9.2 | 7 | 33 | 21.2 | 5 | 20 | 25.0 | 2 | 3 | 66.7 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 1.9 |
| Jamba Garing | 10 | 1 | 9.2 | 5 | 13 | 38.5 | 2 | 7 | 28.6 | 2 | 4 | 50.0 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 1.4 |
| Aldave Canoy | 9 | 0 | 4.1 | 4 | 7 | 57.1 | 1 | 3 | 33.3 | 4 | 5 | 80.0 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.4 |
| Ian Herrera | 12 | 3 | 7.8 | 5 | 20 | 25.0 | 2 | 13 | 15.4 | 2 | 4 | 50.0 | 2.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.2 |
| Renzel Yongco | 10 | 4 | 7.0 | 3 | 12 | 25.0 | 2 | 11 | 18.2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 |
| Bryan Samudio | 9 | 0 | 3.0 | 2 | 6 | 33.3 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| JJ Gesalem | 7 | 1 | 5.8 | 1 | 12 | 8.3 | 1 | 9 | 11.1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Total | 14 | | 40.0 | 332 | 956 | 34.7 | 118 | 465 | 25.4 | 168 | 271 | 62.0 | 42.9 | 12.0 | 5.9 | 2.3 | 18.6 | 67.9 |
| Opponents | 14 | | 40.0 | 449 | 1,004 | 44.7 | 121 | 406 | 29.8 | 171 | 280 | 61.1 | 49.8 | 18.3 | 11.0 | 3.5 | 15.9 | 84.9 |

## Players drafted into the PBA

Bryan Santos and Sherwin Concepcion, both ruled ineligible for Season 85, applied for the record 124-strong 2023 PBA draft and were selected in the second and third rounds, respectively. Santos was picked 14th overall by the former Growling Tigers' head coach, Aldin Ayo of the Converge FiberXers team, while Concepcion ended up with the Yeng Guiao-led Rain or Shine Elasto Painters team as the 27th pick of the draft which was held on September 17, 2023.
| Year | Round | Pick | Overall | Player | PBA team |
| 2023 | 2 | 2 | 14 | Bryan Santos | Converge FiberXers |
| 2023 | 3 | 3 | 27 | Sherwin Concepcion | Rain or Shine Elasto Painters |