The 2022 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team represented the University of Santo Tomas in the 85th season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The men's basketball tournament for the academic year 2022-23 began on October 1, 2022, and the host school for the season was Adamson University.
The Tigers finished eighth and last at the end of the double round-robin eliminations, winning only one game against 13 losses as they tied the team's worst record in the Final Four era. UST won their opening match against the Adamson Soaring Falcons before going on a 13-game losing streak to end the season.
They had an average losing margin of 15.3 points against a single 9-point win for the entire season. Four of their losses were by blowouts, with three in the first round against the De La Salle Green Archers, the Ateneo Blue Eagles, and the UP Fighting Maroons by 20, 27, and 25 points respectively. They also lost to the UE Red Warriors by 30 points in the second round.
Sophomore guard Nic Cabañero emerged as the season's scoring leader with an average of 17.6 points per game. He recorded the league's highest single-game score of 33 points in their season-opener against Adamson on October 1, 2022. Starting center Adama Faye led the league in rebounds with an average of 12.2 boards per game to go with his 11.4 points per game for a double-double average.
Roster UST has listed Ivanne Callum and Trevor Valera on their reserve list, where either player can be activated to replace players who would test positive for COVID-19.
===Depth chart===Depth chart
Roster changes The Growling Tigers have enlisted six rookies in their lineup in the wake of some offseason developments. Veterans Sherwin Concepcion and Bryan Santos were ruled ineligible by the UAAP board for having exceeded the league's age limit. The league relaxed the rules for graduating players in the belatedly-run Season 84, but had reverted them in the succeeding season which began only a few months after. Concepcion and Santos led the Tigers to the 3x3 championship last June.
Dave Ando, last season's starting center, left the team after deciding to play in the FIBA 3x3 Professional Circuit.
New head coach Bal David was able to recruit the sons of retired PBA players, Kenneth Duremdes, Ricky Calimag, and Eddie Laure through a scouting trip with assistant coach Rodney Santos in the United States. Siblings Kenji Duremdes and Kylle Magdangal, along with Calimag's son Richi agreed to suit up for the Tigers this season, as Laure's son Echo gave his commitment a month earlier.
Calimag averaged 13.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals for the Diamond Bar Brahmas. He scored 13 points in their team's loss against Glendora High School in the championship game of the 2021 Gary Prestesater Classic. Magdangal averaged 10.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists for the Marina High School Vikings. He scored 11 points as Marina advanced to the 2021 CIF Southern Section Finals. Duremdes and Laure were playing as rookies for the NSNU Bullpups before the pandemic and were not able to play in their senior year due to tournament cancellations. Duremdes averaged 3.1 points and 2.3 rebounds, while Laure made 3.3 points and 3.4 rebounds per game as 11th graders.
Also suiting up for the first time were Soysoy Escobido, Ivan Lazarte, and Kendall Valentin. Escobido transferred to UST from Don Bosco Technical College–Cebu for his senior high school year, but like Duremdes and Laure, he wasn't able to play due to league suspension in light of the COVID pandemic. He averaged 10.0 points per game in the 2019 MVP Sports Foundation Youth Basketball League–Cebu (MYBL). Lazarte, who was a reserve player for the Tigers last season, came from the 2018 NCAA juniors champion Malayan Red Robins, while Valentin was recruited out of the Adamson Baby Falcons' basketball program, where he played in the 3x3 tournaments.
The Tigers have also regained a replacement for Season 82 MVP Soulémane Chabi Yo, who left the team before the start of Season 84 to play professionally in Europe. Adama Faye was already eligible last season after completing his year-long residency, but had gone to his home country in Senegal and failed to come back in time for Season 84. Faye was able to rejoin the team this season.
Departures SF 6 Josemaria Ignacio Gomez de Liaño 6' 5" 2nd UP Integrated School Transferred to Ateneo de ManilaPG 7 Joshua Fontanilla 5' 11" 4th St. Clare College of Novaliches GraduatedPF 8 Sherwin Concepcion 6' 3" 2nd Malayan High School of Science Age ineligibleSG 10 Aldave Dale Canoy 6' 1" 2nd West Negros University Integrated School Transferred to Colegio de Sta. Ana de VictoriasSF 13 Bryan Samudio 6' 4" 2nd Malayan High School of Science TransferredC 14 Arnold Dave Ando 6' 7" 3rd University of San Jose–Recoletos Forwent eligibility to turn professionalPG 18 Renzel Symon Yongco 6' 1" 1st Saint Jude Catholic School Age ineligiblePF 26 Bryan Santos 6' 5" 4th San Luis National High School Age ineligible
Acquisitions SG 0 Ivan Lazarte 6' 2" 1st Malayan High School of Science Promoted from Team BPF 1 Recaredo Calimag Jr. 6' 4" 1st Diamond Bar High School RookiePG 7 Kylle Matthew Magdangal 5' 11" 1st Marina High School RookiePF 11 Joachim Eddie Laure 6' 5" 1st Nazareth School of National University RookieSG 15 Kenji Trey Duremdes 6' 3" 1st Nazareth School of National University RookieSF 18 Vincent Raymund Escobido 6' 2" 1st University of Santo Tomas RookieC 23 Adama Faye 6' 8" 1st Le Pionnier Transferred from National UniversitySG 33 Kendall Xavier Valentin 6' 2" 1st Adamson University Rookie
Recruiting class Ivan Lazarte SG 6' 2" Malayan High School of Science Dumaguete 20 Oct 2020 2018 NBTC Top 24 rank: N/A (National Finals #26 seed, Division 2 semifinalist with SLS–Don Bosco; Division 2 All-Star game participant with Team Dedication)2019 NBTC Top 24 rank: N/A (National Finals #2 seed, Division 1 Sweet 16 participant with Malayan High School)Soysoy Escobido SF 6' 2" University of Santo Tomas Carcar 8 Jul 2021 2019 NBTC Topp 24 rank: N/A (NBTC–Cebu regional semifinalist with Don Bosco Technical College–Cebu)
Coaching changes Bal David replaced Jino Manansala as the head coach of the Growling Tigers on July 22, 2022. The coaching change was confirmed by UST's Institute of Physical Education and Athletics head Fr. Rodel Cansancio.
Manansala was earlier reassigned to coach the Tiger Cubs, the school's high school basketball program after McJour Luib, the former coach tendered his resignation at the end of the Season 84 tournament. Luib was Manansala's chief deputy at the senior squad. Apart from the Tigers' losing season, where the team finished with only three wins, the inability to reinstate former coach Aldin Ayo led to the resignation of the majority of Manansala's assistant coaches.
David has already applied for the coaching position back in 2017 following Boy Sablan's end of tenure in the aftermath of the Tigers' 1–13 season, but Ayo eventually got the position. His coaching staff consists of retired PBA players Rodney Santos and Ronald Magtulis, two of his teammates from his Ginebra playing years; Richard Melencio, David's teammate from the 1994 UST champion team; former UST Tiger Cubs coaches Jonjon Villanueva and David's brother Bernie.
Schedule and results Preseason tournaments UST recorded the second biggest winning margin in the history of the PBA D-League when they won by 71 points over the AMA University Titans, 150–79. Sherwin Concepcion finished with a triple-double of 14 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists.
The PBA D-League games were aired on One Sports and PBA Rush, while the Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup games were aired via livestream on Smart Sports' Facebook page.
UAAP games
Elimination games were played in a double round-robin format and, except for their second-round game against the Ateneo Blue Eagles on November 17, 2022, all of UST's games were televised on One Sports and the UAAP Varsity Channel.
UAAP statistics Nic Cabañero 13 12 30.2 87 223 39.0 24 81 29.6 31 60 51.7 6.6 2.8 0.8 0.0 3.5 17.6 Adama Faye 13 13 30.9 60 133 45.1 0 7 0.0 28 73 38.4 12.2 1.0 0.4 2.2 3.8 11.4 Migs Pangilinan 14 9 25.8 30 104 28.8 17 61 27.9 15 22 68.2 4.6 1.4 0.9 0.1 1.6 6.1 Ivan Lazarte 11 8 15.3 19 67 28.4 6 31 19.4 17 28 60.7 2.8 0.8 0.8 0.0 0.5 5.5 Paul Manalang 13 6 25.1 17 88 19.3 11 62 17.7 14 18 77.8 2.7 2.8 0.6 0.0 2.0 4.5 Christian Manaytay 14 10 19.1 22 59 37.3 0 8 0.0 11 24 45.8 4.9 1.5 0.9 0.3 1.9 3.9 Jamba Garing 13 2 15.7 18 51 35.3 5 26 19.2 6 10 60.0 4.2 1.2 0.8 0.1 1.1 3.6 Richi Calimag 13 3 14.6 15 50 30.0 10 37 27.0 5 9 55.6 2.9 0.8 0.3 0.1 1.0 3.5 Royce Mantua 12 5 10.5 13 49 26.5 6 24 25.0 7 12 58.3 2.3 0.6 0.3 0.1 1.0 3.3 Echo Laure 9 0 7.8 8 14 57.1 1 2 50.0 1 2 50.0 1.9 0.7 0.2 0.1 0.8 2.0 Kenji Duremdes 13 2 10.3 8 31 25.8 2 14 14.3 7 11 63.6 2.5 0.8 0.2 0.0 0.6 1.9 Kylle Magdangal 5 0 6.0 3 12 25.0 0 4 0.0 0 0 0.0 1.0 0.4 0.4 0.0 1.0 1.2 Soysoy Escobido 8 0 6.0 4 9 44.4 0 2 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.9 0.5 0.3 0.0 0.5 1.0 Kendall Valentin 1 0 2.8 0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 1 2 50.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 Ian Herrera 11 0 3.7 0 11 0.0 0 5 0.0 5 6 83.3 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.5 JJ Gesalem 7 0 4.9 0 8 0.0 0 8 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 Total 14 40.0 304 909 33.4 82 372 22.0 148 277 53.4 45.7 13.7 6.0 2.8 18.4 59.9 Opponents 14 40.0 373 990 37.7 121 433 27.9 161 243 66.3 47.3 20.6 9.9 3.4 14.1 73.4
Source: Imperium Technology
Summary of games The rebuilding Growling Tigers were ranked last among the eight UAAP teams by ESPN Philippines with a C rating. Even with a good showing in their preseason tournaments, the loss of their veterans to ineligibility issues and the appointment of a new head coach places a lot of uncertainties on the team's campaign this year. Sophomores Nic Cabañero and Paul Manalang are only a few months removed from their rookie season, but have now been thrust into the leadership roles in the absence of Joshua Fontanilla, Sherwin Concepcion and Bryan Santos. Cabañero had an impressive showing in the preseason, averaging 16.8 points per game in the PBA D-League, and 14.9 points per game in the Filoil EcoOil tournament.
First round
Adamson Soaring Falcons
Cabañero scored a career-high 33 points in their 69–60 win over the Adamsonm Soaring Falcons. The Falcons had threatened within three points in the last 41.6 seconds before Cabañero converted on a step-back jumper to beat the shot clock. The Tigers went successful in defending Adamson's Jerom Lastimosa who scored only ten points in the game as he failed a three-point shot attempt while trailing 60–63.
After a high-scoring first half of play, both UST and Adamson went lethargic, scoring only six and four points, respectively to end the third period. The two squads shared a combined total of 14 turnovers in the ten-minute duration. UST was able to pick up their offense and increase their lead to ten after outscoring the Falcons, 61-51, four minutes into the fourth quarter.
Cabañero, who was celebrating his 19th birthday in a few days tallied a high field goal percentage of 72.2 on a 13-of-18 clip. His 33-point output was the highest individual score by a Tiger since Kean Baclaan scored 35 points in their preseason game in August.
De La Salle Green Archers
Coming out into their second game of the season, Cabañero had become a marked man as the De La Salle Green Archers' defense held him down to just 10 points on a 5 of 20 shooting. The Archers came out with a strong start and led by as many as 12 points in the first period to close out with a 30–21 lead. The Tigers began the second quarter with a 12–3 run to come within one at 32–33, but La Salle regained steam and ended the half with a seven-point lead.