Teammates come to Cabenero's aid in UST's long-awaited UAAP win

MANILA, Philippines – Every game for the UST Growling Tigers, people expect Nic Cabañero to do the heavy lifting. 

But when the floodgates finally broke for the España-based squad -- which beat the FEU Tamaraws 68-62 in their UAAP Season 86 duel to snap a 19-game losing streak -- it wasn’t just the third-year scorer that contributed big for the team.

Though Cabanero still led the team in points with 23, there wasn’t any shortage of support from the rest of the Growling Tigers, who are now 1-6 for the year.

After the game, Cabañero was more than grateful for his teammates’ help, especially after he was held to a point in the crucial fourth quarter.

“I was shouting at my teammates na kaya niyo yan pre kasi iba yung… dahil nga naka-score na ko 22 points sa third quarter, I think yung FEU din, they're not allowing me to score again,” Cabañero said.

“So, sinasabihan ko sila Christian [Manaytay], si Paul [Manalang], si Migs [Pangilinan], si Kenji [Duremdes] na sama-sama lang tayo kayang kaya natin and kung kaya niyo gawan ng paraan, kaya niyo yan,” he added.

Among those who heeded Cabañero’s call was Manaytay, who finished with a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Manaytay was one of the players who heated up early for UST, helping push them ahead in the early goings.

But when all was said and done, he simply shrugged off his efforts.

“I just need to do my job, you know? Kasi yun lang yung dapat naming gawin as a team,” he said. 

“Sa team namin meron kaming role tig-isa so nafill ko lang yung role na yun since wala nga yung import namin so kailangan talaga namin magstep up yung bigs namin. You know, credit naman sa other bigs namin, si Echo [Laure], si [Angelo] Crisostomo, at saka si [Thirdy] Esmena, during practice nagppush kami.”

Manaytay and the other big men of UST have been asked to fill in the void left by injured foreign student-athlete Adama Faye. The latter remains missing in action for the Tigers midway through the season.

As things remain uncertain, UST will look to their other players to hold the fort.

“Sinasabi nga namin na tayo-tayo na lang talaga, tayo na lang natitirang big dito, wala na tayong kakapitan, wala na tayong aasahan. So ilaban na