Mo Tounkara and the UST Growling Tigers continue their fight for a Final Four slot in UAAP Season 87.
Mo Tounkara left it all on the floor for the UST Growling Tigers in their Wednesday match against the UP Fighting Maroons.
The Malian big man delivered an exceptional performance, scoring 21 points on an impressive 9-of-10 shooting, while also pulling down five rebounds.
Reflecting on the game, Tounkara noted that UST had control during the first half, only to falter after halftime.
"I think we had the first two quarters, but we didn’t start our third quarter very well against UP. That’s the main point. We had a couple of turnovers that we weren’t able to recover from," Tounkara told reporters after the match.
Turnovers and the lack of rebounding plagued the Growling Tigers throughout the second half, derailing their momentum as the Fighting Maroons capitalized on those mistakes.
The España-based squad committed 24 turnovers and grabbed 35 rebounds in their loss to UP. Before that, UST recorded just 29 rebounds and 16 turnovers against the DLSU Green Archers.
Facing teams like La Salle and UP—both contenders for the top spots—tested UST’s mettle. But Tounkara remains confident, especially in the second round.
“We’re here to compete against all the teams. And I think against La Salle and UP, since they’re the top two teams, we had a good game against both of them. Like I said, against La Salle also we lost on the rebounding and today turnovers also,” Tounkara bared.
“The second round is going to be fun for sure,” he added.
Sitting with a 3-3 record for fourth place in the standings, Tounkara is focused on the bigger picture for the Growling Tigers as they look to make the Final Four for the first time since 2019.
“We’re just trying to get better every day. We have practice, we’re gonna watch film of the game and try to connect our mistakes and prepare for the second round for sure,” said Tounkara.
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Last up for UST in the first round will be the young and gritty FEU Tamaraws on Saturday, October 5, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.