UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas is a basketball champion once more - in the boys' tournament, to be exact.

The Tiger Cubs kept cool, calm, and collected on a humid Thursday afternoon to weather a late storm from NU-Nazareth School for a 83-77 overtime decision in Game 3 of the UAAP Season 87 finals at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

Racine Kane was front and center in the extra period, muscling his way for five of his 28 points to carry the black-and-gold to the championship.

PHOTO: UAAP Media Bureau

Of course, the Senegalese big was only able to do damage, as Best Foreign Student-Athlete Collins Akowe fouled out of the game during the Bullpups' furious fightback in the last two minutes of regulation.

Still, NUNS kept coming and even threatened at 77-80 with 1:57 left only to see their shots go missing, as Kirk Canete sealed the deal for UST from the line.

"In-enjoy lang namin. Lumamang man kami, dumikit ang kalaban, enjoy lang kami. Swerte naman, nakuha namin sa dulo," said a beaming head coach Manu Inigo.

Kane also added 17 points, two blocks, and two steals, while Koji Buenaflor pounded in a 12-marker, 15-board double-double of his own to go with six assists. Charles Esteban and Joaqui Ludovice also added 11 and 10 points, respectively, as Canete wound up stuffing the stat sheet with eight markers, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.

The Tiger Cubs needed all of that to overcome losing a lead of as much as 17 late in the first half and allowing the Bullpups to force overtime even after shooting a ghastly 3-of-29 from deep and 8-of-22 from the stripe.

Turning it on when it mattered most, however, NUNS outscored UST, 25-14, with Migs Palanca's putback with 0.6 ticks to go evening up the score at 74-all. Seconds before, however, Akowe picked up his fifth and final foul, paving the path for Kane to dominate the extra period.

With that, the Tiger Cubs can now celebrate a basketball championship to add to the one the Growling Tigresses won in the women's division in Season 86. This is Espana's first juniors title since 2001.

Even more, they can now boast of having a shot-caller who won it all in both the UAAP and the NCAA, as Inigo once guided the San Beda Red Cubs to the mountaintop in 2019.

PHOTO: UAAP Media Bureau

UST's trek to the title featured a total of three wins against the Bullpups, including one to end the eliminations that ensured a traditional Final Four format instead of stepladder playoffs. Against all the other teams, NUNS was a perfect 13-0.

"Hindi ko rin alam e. Basta trinabaho lang namin," answered Inigo after being asked about their head-to-head match-ups.

"Si Racine. We have Racine," said Buenaflor and Manding in unison afterwards.

Akowe topped the scoring column for the Bullpups with another monster double-double of 23 points, 24 rebounds, four blocks, and three assists, while Palanca provided backup with 21 markers and 13 boards.

- Kane 28, Buenaflor 12, Esteban 11, Ludovice 10, Manding 10, Canete 8, Bucsit 4, Solon 0, Acido 0, Vidanes 0

- Akowe 23, Palanca 21, Alfanta 10, Locsin 9, Cartel 4, Matias 3, Napa 3, Solomon 2, Nepacena 2, Usop 0, Pillado 0, Lucido 0, Natinga 0, Figueroa 0

: 24-18, 46-35, 60-49, 74-74, 83-77 (OT)

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