ORDER RESTORED: Tigers flirt with disaster, survive Red Warriors

Games on Saturday:

(Blue Eagle Gym)

2 p.m. — UST vs Adamson

5:30 p.m. — NU vs Ateneo

University of Santo Tomas (UST) played with fire and almost got burned.

The Growling Tigers weathered a serious second-half uprising by a desperate University of the East (UE) to notch a second straight win, 98-87, for a share of the top spot in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 89 men’s basketball tournament Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

A Mark Llemit three-pointer followed by back-to-back baskets by Collins Akowe saved UST from a monumental collapse after its imposing 23-point third-quarter lead was trimmed to just six with three minutes left in the game.

It wasn’t pretty but Tigers head coach Pido Jarencio felt relieved his squad survived the tough challenge posed by the Red Warriors to join National University, University of the Philippines and Ateneo De Manila University on the leaderboard with a 2-1 win-loss record.

“The opposition also knows how to play basketball. They’re 0-3, and they have a new coach (interim coach Paulo Hubalde). So, the players want to prove something to their new coach,” Jarencio said.

“They got the momentum in the second half. But we remained steady. In the end, we got the win. That’s the story of the game. As long as we get that W — one, two, three points as long as we win, it’s okay,” he added.

Llemit finished with a personal conference-high 22 points on 8-of-13 field goal shooting and added seven rebounds, three assists, one steal and a block in 27 minutes of action for UST.

Amiel Acido added 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists while Akowe flexed his muscle underneath with a double-double of 14 makers and 11 boards for the Tigers. The Nigerian big man was also a menace defensively with six blocks.

Landyin Jumawan got 13 markers while Koji Buenaflor chipped in eight markers in his first game back after helping Gilas Pilipinas take a fourth-place finish in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

The Tigers looked ready to put UE away in the opening minutes of the third quarter after erecting a 61-38 separation on a Jumawan layup with 7:32 left.

However, the Red Warriors had something different in mind as they mounted a shocking rally.

UE crept close by the end of the third canto with Tope Lagat working with Cole Cruz-Dumont, JM Edoukou and Gene Carillo to knock on UST door.

Carillo hit a three-pointer to cut the Tigers’ advantage to 89-83 with 3:12 left.

Llemit answered with a timely triple before Akowe scored consecutive baskets to give UST some breathing room, 96-85, before finally securing the win.

“I think every game we’re getting better,” Jarencio said.

Victory remained elusive for the Red Warriors as they fell to a 0-4 record and a woeful 24-game skid since Season 87.

Lagat had 22 points, Mo Tanedo added 16 markers while Cruz-Dumont and Carillo had 12 and 10 points for UE.