The UST Growling Tigers basketball is the intercollegiate men's basketball program of the University of Santo Tomas. The school has won 19 basketball titles including one in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). They are one of the winningest teams in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) with 18 championships, the last coming in 2006 during Pido Jarencio's rookie year of coaching. Jarencio returned as the team's head coach after ten years since resigning in 2013. He formally replaced Bal David on February 3, 2023.
Schedule overview The Growling Tigers' preparation for the season begins in late-March, or at the tail end of the academic year. It was recently moved to late-April following a shift in the opening of the school calendar from June to August. UST usually plays in two major preseason tournaments for two to three months and they sometimes join provincial pocket tournaments in the lead-up to the UAAP tournament. On many occasions, a Team B lineup from their training pool is fielded to competitions that run parallel to another tournament.
Among the offseason tournaments that the Growling Tigers participate in are the Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup, the MILCU U-25 Summer tournament, the Breakdown Basketball Invitational tournament, PBA D-League Aspirants' Cup and the Father Martin Cup.
In the 14-game UAAP basketball tournament, the Tigers play from twice to thrice weekly against the seven other member teams in the course of the two round-robin elimination games from early September until mid-November. Playoff games may last until December, after which the postseason tournaments begin.
In the postseason, UST usually qualifies to participate in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League, depending on their rank from the concluded UAAP season.
History
The Growling Tigers were originally known as the "Glowing Goldies," with the name derived from UST's school colors of gold and white. Their colors were in turn inspired by the flag of the then defunct Papal States since their pontifical status was obtained in 1902.
Early years The history of UST's basketball program dates back to 1920 when they joined the Liga Catolica, an interscholastic sports league of Manila-based Catholic schools that was founded by San Beda, La Salle, Ateneo, Letran, and San Vicente de Paul College.
The Glowing Goldies co-founded the NCAA in 1924, and under the guidance of Chito Calvo, they won their first and only championship in 1930. UST went undefeated in all of the 27 games that they played. It was the same year that the Big Three side tournament was formed. They defeated both the teams of National University and the University of the Philippines to capture the inaugural crown. They won against Ateneo in the NCAA championship game that went into overtime. At the end of regulation, the organizers were getting ready to announce the boys from Intramuros as the winners, but after rechecking the scores, it was discovered that it was actually tied at 47–all. In the end, UST prevailed, at 55–51.
1 Silva ∙ 2 Heredia ∙ 3 Montinola ∙ 4 Del Rosario, C ∙ 5 Jacinto ∙ 6 Villanueva ∙ 7 Magbanua ∙ 8 Celis ∙ 9 Biel ∙ 10 Reyes ∙ 11 Bautista ∙ 12 Tudungca Chito Calvo, coach
The Big Three was launched as an experimental sports meet among the triumvirate of UP, UST and NU, with the Goldies winning for four straight years behind the exploits of their three national team members in Jacinto Ciria Cruz, Primitivo Martinez, and Herminio Silva. It was formally inaugurated as a league in 1932—four years before the three schools formally withdrew their participation from the NCAA. Apart from the Big Three League, the Goldies also competed in the National Open Championship and tournaments organized by the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation where they won titles in 1935, 1937, 1940, and 1941.
With the addition of Far Eastern University to the group in 1938, the Big Three League was dissolved and the UAAP was inaugurated. The Goldies lost to the Tamaraws in a game that decided the tournament's first champion. UST went on to record their first back-to-back championships in the next two years, although the 1939 crown was shared with FEU and UP when they all finished with identical 4–2 win–loss records. Silva, who had ventured into coaching after the 1938 season took over the Goldies after Dr. Jose Rodríguez resigned. The 1940 champion team became known to sports scribes as the "Captains' Team" due to the presence of five skippers in their lineup. Aside from then team captain Gabby Fajardo, the others who had served as the Goldies' leaders in past tournaments were Francisco Vestil, Salvador Siao, Enrique Novales, and Gabby's brother Fely who was a transferee from Letran.
Postwar era The postwar resumption of the UAAP in 1946 after a five-year absence saw the Glowing Goldies record another undefeated season when they won all six of their games to claim their third straight championship. The team was honored in a ceremony on May 12, 1996 to commemorate the 50th year of the championship.
The following year, the Goldies were declared co-champions again with FEU. In the deciding match, UST was leading towards the end of regulation when a power outage struck the Rizal Memorial Coliseum, forcing play to stop. When power had not been restored after an hour, the tournament organizers decided to award the 1947 championship to both teams. Vestil was named Most Valuable Player of the season.
UST won over FEU again in 1949 for their sixth straight championship. It was their fourth straight title in the postwar era. The Tamaraws got their revenge when they defeated the Goldies for the UAAP, as well as the Intercollegiate championships in 1950. Benjamin Aranza ∙ Ramoncito Campos ∙ Antonio Castillejo ∙ Edward Dee ∙ Tito Eduque ∙ Pepito Genato ∙ Julian Malonso ∙ Pocholo Martinez ∙ Demosthenes Nagtalon Francisco Nepomuceno ∙ Ricardo Pineda ∙ Felipe Tiongco ∙ Francisco Vestil Herminio Silva, coach Ramoncito Campos ∙ Edward Dee ∙ Tony Dimayuga ∙ Tito Eduque ∙ Pepe Esteva ∙ Fely Fajardo ∙ Gabby Fajardo ∙ Pepito Genato ∙ Ramon Hechanova ∙ Julian Malonso Pocholo Martinez ∙ Demosthenes Nagtalon ∙ Francisco Nepomuceno ∙ Francisco Vestil Herminio Silva, coach Benjamin Coruña ∙ Ben Cruz ∙ Edward Dee ∙ Ding dela Paz ∙ Pepe Esteva ∙ Genaro Fernandez ∙ Pepito Genato ∙ Paing Hechanova ∙ Ramon Hechanova ∙ Ramon Manzano, C Roque Miguel ∙ Alvin Paras ∙ Poy Yee Herminio Silva, coach
Redemption came early for UST when they won the 1951 National Open Championships in January after defeating the San Miguel Braves team of their former coach Chito Calvo, 47–41 in the Finals. This was the last time that a team from the UAAP won the National Open. The Glowing Goldies went on to win their first unshared three-peat championship in the UAAP from 1951 to 1953. In the 1951 UAAP Finals, Coach Silva put into play his peculiar strategy of dribbling the ball until time ran out. UST preserved their lead over FEU and went on to win the championship on a 43–34 score. Ning Ramos was selected MVP by the Philippine Sportswriters Association in 1952. He was joined by teammate Ramon Manulat in the Mythical team selection.
The Goldies finished third behind FEU and first-time champions NU in 1954. Francis Wilson was included in the PSA's Mythical first team selection, while Eddie Pacheco made it to the second team.
In 1955, Fely Fajardo replaced longtime coach Herr Silva after the latter had fallen ill during his coaching stint at the 1954 World Championship in Brazil. UST was back to their winning ways when they dethroned NU for the UAAP title and then claimed the National Intercollegiate Championship in the postseason after beating University of the Visayas, 76–66. In the National Finals, the Goldies forced an overtime when team captain Andy Bautista converted both free throws to tie the score at 62–all. Wilson led the team in scoring with 21 points, while Jose Petel, Egie Serafico, and Benjamin Cabrera added 15, 12, and 10 points respectively.
Francisco Bato ∙ Jose Buenaflor ∙ Benjamin Coruña ∙ Ding dela Paz ∙ Genaro Fernandez ∙ Baltazar Garcia ∙ Paing Hechanova, C ∙ Ramon Hechanova ∙ Ramon Manulat Roque Miguel ∙ Ning Ramos ∙ Egie Serafico ∙ Poy Yee Herminio Silva, coach Francisco Bato ∙ Andy Bautista ∙ Benjamin Cabrera ∙ Filemon Cober ∙ Napoleon Flores ∙ Baltazar Garcia ∙ Paing Hechanova ∙ Ramon Manulat ∙ Ning Ramos, C ∙ Egie Serafico Jose Tapia Jr. Herminio Silva, coach Francisco Bato ∙ Andy Bautista ∙ Filemon Cober ∙ Napoleon Flores ∙ Baltazar Garcia ∙ Paing Hechanova ∙ Ramon Manulat ∙ Jose Petel ∙ Ning Ramos, C ∙ Egie Serafico Jose Tapia Jr. ∙ Francis Wilson ∙ Ludovico Yambao Herminio Silva, coach
UST–UE rivalry The Glowing Goldies met the University of the East's Warriors team in the 1957 Final, in what was to be their first of eight championship meetings that spans until the beginning of the 1970s decade. The Warriors joined the league as an expansion team in 1952 with Manila Central University, Adamson, and the University of Manila. UST lost the championship to UE, 55–64.
UST got back at UE in 1959 by breaking their back-to-back championship streak after winning, 66–55. The Goldies who won the first-round pennant struggled in the next round and had to go through a playoff game against FEU in order to qualify for the right to face the defending champions in the Finals. They defeated the Tamaraws, 84–67 and then went on to deploy a tight man-to-man defense against the Warriors in the championship game. They had succeeded in limiting UE's leading scorer Roehl Nadurata to only four points, all of which came from free throws. The 6-foot-3 Asencion Aparicio who hardly played long minutes was responsible for the defense on Nadurata. The Goldies' center was equally effective on the offensive end when he scored 20 points in the game. This was the 11th championship won by UST since their 1939 title. Valentino Rosabal won the 1959 Rookie of the Year award.
Asencion Aparicio ∙ Reynaldo Arenas ∙ Jose Bacus ∙ Isabelo Capistrano ∙ Boy Codiñera ∙ Ramon Cotia ∙ Eduardo Cuyno ∙ Carlito Escobañez ∙ Priscilo Gabuya, C Hermenegildo Isidro ∙ Rosendo Libunao ∙ Virgilio Nuñez ∙ Angel Pavilando ∙ Valentino Rosabal ∙ Romeo Tolentino Fely Fajardo, coach
A loss to FEU in the four-team championship round prevented the Glowing Goldies from defending their championship. They made it to the semifinals by defeating the MCU Tigers, 87–72 in a playoff for the fourth and last berth where UE, FEU and UP had already qualified. FEU's Romy Diaz set a new scoring record when he tallied 40 points in ousting UST, 91–81 from the 1960 Finals.
In 1963, the UAAP introduced the twice-to-beat advantage format for the first time to replace their existing single-game, winner-take-all format to determine the champion of the season. UST defeated UE in two games, but the victory was placed under protest by the Warriors. The subject of the protest was UST's Tomas Pacheco's ineligibility for having played for a commercial team in the National Open in the summer, which was against league rules. The protest was upheld by the UAAP board, and as a result awarded the championship to UE. The Warriors also became the recipients of the El Oro trophy for having been champions for three straight years. Rosabal was named MVP, while point guard Aric del Rosario won the 1963 Rookie of the Year award.