The 2025 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team represented the University of Santo Tomas in the 88th season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The men's basketball tournament for the academic year 2025–26 began on September 20, 2025, and the host school for the season was also UST.
The Tigers made it to the Final Four for the second straight year after finishing the elimination rounds at third place with an 8–6 record. They, however lost once again to the second-seeded UP Fighting Maroons in the semifinals after failing to overcome their twice-to-win disadvantage and missed getting on the podium after the top-seeded NU Bulldogs were eliminated by the De La Salle Green Archers to slide down and claim second runner-up honors instead.
They had an average winning margin of 11.4 points and an average losing margin of 5.0 points. They had a 20-point, 87–67 blowout win over UP at the start of the season, which broke their six-year losing streak against them. Two of their games went into overtime, with their first-round game against the Ateneo Blue Eagles going into three extra periods for a hard-fought win, and then losing by a single point against the Adamson Soaring Falcons in the second round.
Nic Cabañero made it to the Mythical team for the second straight year and once again become the league's scoring leader for the third time, after averaging 16.8 points per game in the eliminations. Nigerian center Collins Akowe was named Rookie of the Year. He was earlier chosen Player of the Week by the Collegiate Press Corps for the duration of September 20–28, while third-year forward Gelo Crisostomo got the citation during the week of October 8–12, 2025.
Roster
===Depth chart===Depth chart
Roster changes
Three of the Growling Tigers' players from their 2024 roster have either graduated or used up their playing eligibility. Veterans Christian Manaytay and Miguel Pangilinan, together with Filipino American Chase Lane have all concluded their collegiate careers, with Manayatay declaring for the 2025 PBA rookie draft and getting selected in the first round. Three other players have also departed, including Mo Tounkara, their much-appreciated foreign student-athlete who decided to turn professional in his home region with the Basketball Africa League at the end of the school year. Manaytay averaged 7.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 20.9 minutes in four years of playing college ball. Tounkara had a double-double average of 13.4 points and 10.1 rebounds in 28.5 minutes from his lone season with UST.
The official lineup for UST's 2025 campaign consists of ten holdovers, four rookies, and two players from their training pool. Among the rookies is Nigerian center Collins Awoke who came from the UAAP's high school ranks as the first FSA to win the Most Valuable Player award in Season 86 while suiting up for the rival NU–Nazareth Bullpups. He was a front runner for a back-to-back MVP title before the UAAP made a ruling that prohibits foreign players from winning such award. He ended up bagging the newly-created Best Foreign Student-Athlete honors in Season 87. His lofty per-game stats of 20.8 points, 18.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.7 blocks in his senior high school year was testament to why he was the best player in the Juniors division.
Former Tiger Cubs Koji Buenaflor, Carl Manding, and team captain Charles Bucsit from the Season 87 Boys' basketball champion roster are the Growling Tigers' other rookies. Buenaflor, the 2025 National Basketball Training Center's fifth best high school player and Mythical team member of the National Finals, was being courted for recruitment by three other rival colleges before committing to the gold-and-white. He averaged 11.4 points and 7.9 rebounds in his senior year to help his team end their 24-year title drought. Manding, a member of the Under-18 national team that competed in the 2024 FIBA Asia Cup in Jordan, had initially committed to Ateneo before deciding to return to UST in August. The four freshmen are all eligible for five playing years beginning in Season 88.
Departures PF 4 Christian Manaytay 6' 4" 4th Sacred Heart School–Ateneo de Cebu GraduatedSF 5 Chase Lawrence Lane 6' 4" 5th Covenant College Prep GraduatedSF 17 Miguel Pangilinan 6' 2" 5th National University Nazareth School GraduatedC 21 Zain Mahmood 6' 7" 2nd Maranatha High School Transferred to Far Eastern UniversitySG 23 Geremy Jaylen Robinson Jr. 6' 1" 1st Moanalua High School Academic deficienciesC 36 Hinda Mady dit Mohamed Tounkara 6' 7" 1st Lycée Public de Kalabancoro Forwent eligibility to turn professional
Acquisitions SF 8 Hezekiah Charles Bucsit 6' 3" 1st University of Santo Tomas RookiePF 13 Lorenzo Bangco 6' 4" 1st University of the East Promoted from Team BPF 19 Koji Ivan Buenaflor 6' 6" 1st University of Santo Tomas RookiePG 25 Jiro Sevilla 5' 10" 1st De La Salle Santiago Zobel School Promoted from Team BSG 26 Carl Vincent Manding 6' 2" 1st University of Santo Tomas RookieC 28 Collins Akowe 6' 10" 1st National University Nazareth School Rookie/ foreign student-athlete
Recruiting class Koji Buenaflor PF 6' 6" University of Santo Tomas San Jose del Monte 19 Apr 2025 2025 NBTC Top 24 rank: 5 (National Finals #3 seed, Division 1 Mythical team, semifinalist with UST; All-Star game participant with Team Heart)2024 NBTC Top 24 rank: N/A (National Finals #4 seed, Division 1 quarterfinalist with UST)2023 NBTC Top 24 rank: N/A (National Finals #2 seed, Division 1 semifinalist with UST)Charles Bucsit SF 6' 3" University of Santo Tomas Sta. Rosa, Laguna 19 Apr 2025 2025 NBTC Top 24 rank: N/A (National Finals #3 seed, Division 1 semifinalist with UST)2024 NBTC Top 24 rank: N/A (National Finals #4 seed, Division 1 quarterfinalist with UST)2023 NBTC Top 24 rank: N/A (National Finals #2 seed, Division 1 semifinalist with UST)Carl Manding SG 6' 2" University of Santo Tomas Cebu City 4 Aug 2025 2025 NBTC Top 24 rank: N/A (National Finals #3 seed, Division 1 semifinalist with UST)2024 NBTC Top 24 rank: N/A (National Finals #4 seed, Division 1 quarterfinalist with UST)2023 NBTC Top 24 rank: N/A (National Finals #2 seed, Division 1 semifinalist with UST)Collins Akowe C 6' 10" National University Nazareth School Nigeria 23 Jun 2025 2024 SLAM Rising Stars Classic participant (with Team Hype)
Schedule and results Preseason tournaments The Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup games were aired via livestream on the Facebook pages of Filoil EcoOil Sports and Smart Sports, and Filoil EcoOil Sports' YouTube channel.
UAAP games
Elimination games are played in a double round-robin format and all of UST's games are televised on One Sports and the UAAP Varsity Channel and livestreamed through the Pilipinas Live app.
UAAP statistics Eliminations Nic Cabañero 14 14 30.8 95 217 43.8 10 50 20.0 35 66 53.0 6.0 2.6 1.1 0.1 2.1 16.8 Collins Akowe 14 14 35.7 80 147 54.4 0 0 0.0 70 129 54.3 14.5 1.4 0.7 1.6 2.5 16.4 Gelo Crisostomo 14 9 23.3 56 121 46.3 21 52 40.4 15 23 65.2 6.4 1.5 1.4 1.1 1.1 10.6 Forthsky Padrigao 13 5 24.6 36 127 28.3 22 87 25.3 30 44 68.2 2.5 5.2 1.9 0.1 2.4 9.5 Mark Llemit 14 1 22.2 36 82 43.9 15 42 35.7 21 34 61.8 3.4 1.1 0.9 0.4 1.4 7.7 Amiel Acido 14 0 17.5 37 90 41.1 20 56 35.7 14 20 70.0 4.1 1.0 0.6 0.1 0.9 7.7 Kyle Paranada 14 9 19.2 31 87 35.6 11 36 30.6 31 39 79.5 1.6 2.8 0.6 0.0 1.9 7.4 Koji Buenaflor 12 5 10.5 16 35 45.7 1 7 14.3 12 19 63.2 1.9 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.7 3.8 Ice Danting 13 4 6.2 12 23 52.2 7 16 43.8 4 5 80.0 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.3 2.7 Ivanne Calum 14 0 6.6 12 20 60.0 0 1 0.0 3 7 42.9 0.7 0.4 0.4 0.0 0.7 1.9 Leland Estacio 14 9 8.9 6 27 22.2 4 17 23.5 1 11 9.1 1.2 0.5 0.2 0.0 0.1 1.2 Charles Bucsit 6 0 4.3 2 7 28.6 2 7 28.6 1 2 50.0 0.7 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.2 Jiro Sevilla 2 0 1.0 0 2 0.0 0 2 0.0 2 2 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 1.0 Echo Laure 11 0 2.7 5 10 50.0 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.9 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.9 Carl Manding 4 0 1.7 1 3 33.3 0 1 0.0 1 2 50.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.8 Lorenzo Bangco 4 0 1.5 1 3 33.3 0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.5 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 Total 14 41.4 426 1,001 42.6 113 375 30.1 240 400 60.0 48.1 16.7 8.1 3.7 14.6 86.1 Opponents 14 41.4 433 1,072 40.4 113 374 30.2 165 251 65.7 44.7 17.4 8.4 3.5 14.5 81.7 Playoffs Nic Cabañero 1 1 32.1 8 19 42.1 0 2 0.0 8 9 88.9 3 3 2 0 0 24 Gelo Crisostomo 1 0 21.0 6 11 54.5 3 6 50.0 0 0 0.0 7 0 0 1 0 15 Collins Akowe 1 1 36.5 4 12 33.3 0 0 0.0 3 4 75.0 11 6 0 3 2 11 Kyle Paranada 1 1 22.4 2 10 20.0 2 5 40.0 4 4 100.0 4 2 2 0 2 10 Forthsky Padrigao 1 0 24.5 3 13 23.1 0 5 0.0 0 0 0.0 2 4 1 0 0 6 Mark Llemit 1 0 23.8 3 5 60.0 0 1 0.0 0 1 0.0 1 0 0 0 1 6 Amiel Acido 1 0 20.2 1 5 20.0 1 4 25.0 1 1 100.0 8 0 2 0 3 4 Koji Buenaflor 1 1 6.5 2 4 50.0 0 2 0.0 0 0 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 4 Leland Estacio 1 1 11.0 0 1 0.0 0 1 0.0 1 2 50.0 2 0 0 0 0 1 Echo Laure 1 0 1.9 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Total 1 40.0 29 81 35.8 6 26 23.1 17 21 81.0 45 15 7 4 8 81 Opponents 1 40.0 30 70 42.9 5 18 27.8 17 21 81.0 49 22 5 4 15 82
Source: Livestats.ph
Summary of games
The consensus has not changed. During the UAAP's press launch in Greenhills, San Juan on September 15, the teams' head coaches still believe that the UP Fighting Maroons and the De La Salle Green Archers are the favorites to contend for the championship this season. But if anyone can play the spoiler's role, the coaches see either UST or the NU Bulldogs as the teams that are capable of pulling it off.
Much like the previous year, the UST community is in heightened anticipation due to their new recruits. The two graduating seniors in team captain Nic Cabañero and veteran point guard Forthsky Padrigao have both expressed the team's ultimate goal of going for the championship, unlike in the past year where they modestly tempered their expectations.
Getting to the Finals is a tall order for the Tigers. They have talented players, but they still show signs of inconsistency. Cabañero's shooting is still suspect, perhaps due to the old habit that he developed when his team had struggled during his first three years, and he would resort to one-on-one plays as the Tigers often relied on him for their offense. With Padrigao's arrival last year, offensive plays have been run smoother, but he is yet to regain his shooting form from his playing days with Ateneo. Mo Tounkara, their Malian center was their anchor on defense, and his double-digit point production was also a factor, as only he and Cabañero were the reliable scorers from last year. Tounkara's departure leaves a lot of uncertaincy for the team, as evidenced by their rebounding woes in the preseason.
UST has ramped up their recruitment for the second straight year, and they are somewhat pinning their chances on their rookies, with the Nigerian Collins Akowe tasked to fill in for Tounkara, as well as on the championship experience of the three former Tiger Cubs, headed by the 6-foot-6 Koji Buenaflor.
First round UP Fighting Maroons
Akowe's collegiate debut became a showcase of dominance as the Growling Tigers handed the defending champions, the UP Fighting Maroons a 20-point, 87–67 beatdown. The Nigerian rookie came out with a double-double of 29 points and 17 rebounds, as UST sent notice to the other teams that the championship is no longer an exclusive affair between last year's two finalists.
The Tigers were able to break free in the first quarter after an early back-and-forth at the start of the game behind Kyle Paranada's outside shooting to end the period with a 12-point, 31–19 lead. UST held the Maroons scoreless in the opening minutes of the second period, increasing their lead to 18 at 37–19. UP's Harold Alarcon led a rally to pull his team to within ten, but Akowe and Paranada made back-to-back conversions to end the half with a 14-point, 57–43 advantage. Paranada scored 14 of his total output in the first half.