1997 UST Growling Tigers basketball team

The 1997 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team represented University of Santo Tomas in the 60th season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The men's basketball tournament for the school year 1997–98 began on July 12, 1997, and the host school for the season was Adamson University.

1997 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball
UAAP Season 60 semifinalist
Record
Elims rank	#2
Final rank	#3
1997 record	10–6 (10–4 elims)
Head coach	Aric del Rosario (11th season)
Assistant coaches	Dong Vergeire Binky Favis

UST won their last six games after suffering back-to-back losses in between the two rounds of the double round-robin eliminations, for a second-place finish with 10 wins against 4 losses. The De La Salle Green Archers had the same win–loss record but were ranked lower on an inferior -5 quotient.

Two of their games went into overtime, with both resulting to wins over the FEU Tamaraws, 79–71 in the first round; and against the UE Red Warriors, 85–77 in the second round.

The Tigers lost their Final Four match against La Salle, their recurrent playoff opponent since 1994. UST squandered their twice-to-beat advantage with a 73–82 loss, resulting to a knockout game, where they were eventually eliminated after a 72–74 overtime loss.

Roster

UST Growling Tigers roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Year High School PF 4 Emmerson Oreta 6'3" (1.91m) 1st University of Santo Tomas SF 5 John Dale Valena 6'0" (1.83m) 2nd University of Santo Tomas C 6 Gilbert Lao 6'7" (2.01m) 1st Uno High School C 7 Marvin Ortiguerra 6'5" (1.96m) 1st Mapúa Institute of Technology SF 8 Ramon Talaga, III 6'0" (1.83m) 3rd – SG 9 Romel David 5'10" (1.78m) 5th Mapúa Institute of Technology PG 10 Ramon Singson 5'11" (1.8m) 4th Mandaue Academy SG 11 Richard Melencio 5'9" (1.75m) 4th San Beda College SF 12 Gerard Raymond Francisco 6'3" (1.91m) 3rd University of Santo Tomas PF 13 Ryan Bernardo 6'5" (1.96m) 1st – PF 14 Richard Yee  6'4" (1.93m) 4th Antique National School C 17 Melchor Latoreno 6'5" (1.96m) 2nd University of Santo Tomas SG 18 Henry Ong 5'11" (1.8m) 5th Mapúa Institute of Technology SG 20 Angelo Velasco 5'9" (1.75m) 3rd St. Francis High School	Head coach Januario del Rosario Assistant coach(es) Edward Vergeire Vincent Kenneth Favis Legend (C) Team captain Injured

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Ortiguerra	Latoreno	Lao
PF	Oreta	Bernardo
SF	Francisco	David	Valena
SG	Melencio	Ong	Talaga
PG	Singson	Velasco

Roster changes

The Tigers lost team captain and Season 58 MVP Chris Cantonjos to graduation, as well as Mythical team awardee Estong Ballesteros, who decided to join the 1997 PBA Rookie Draft. In their place, UST was able to recruit blue chips from the high school ranks, with UST Tiger Cub Emmerson Oreta who was hailed the UAAP Season 59 Juniors MVP and Mapúa High School's Marvin Ortiguerra, the Juniors MVP of the NCAA in Season 71 coming onboard.

Subtractions

Pos.	No.	Nat.	Player	Height	Year	High school	Notes
PG	4		Francis Mangyao	6' 0"	4th	University of Southern Philippines Foundation	Transferred to Saint Francis of Assisi College
C	15		Christopher Cantonjos	6' 6"	4th	Colegio de San Juan de Letran	Graduated
PF	16		Ernesto Ballesteros	6' 4"	4th	Mapúa Institute of Technology	Left team to turn professional
C	19		Chandler Tyrone Donaldson	6' 5"	4th		Out due to a slipped disc injury

Additions

Pos.	No.	Nat.	Player	Height	Year	High school	Notes
PF	4		Emmerson Oreta	6' 3"	1st	University of Santo Tomas	Rookie
C	6		Gilbert Lao	6' 7"	1st	Uno High School	Rookie
C	7		Marvin Ortiguerra	6' 5"	1st	Mapúa Institute of Technology	Rookie
PF	13		Ryan Bernardo	6' 5"	1st		Rookie

Schedule and results

Preseason tournament

Preseason game log
1997 Fr. Martin Cup: 6–2 Game Date • Time Opponent Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Location 6 May 30 Letran Knights L 76–85 5–1 Loyola Center Quezon City 7 Jun 1 Ateneo Blue Eagles L 68–73 5–2 Francisco (15) Loyola Center Quezon City 8 Jun 4 San Sebastian Stags W 79–64 6–2 David (16) Loyola Center Quezon City
(#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in UTC+08:00.

UAAP games

Further information: UAAP Season 60 men's basketball tournament

Elimination games were played in a double round-robin format. All games were aired on PTV 4 by Silverstar Sports.

UAAP Season 60 game log
Elimination round: 10–4 Game Date • Time Opponent Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Location 1 Jul 12 • 6:00 pm UP Fighting Maroons L 56–63 0–1 Melencio (14) Araneta Coliseum Quezon City 2 Jul 17 • 6:00 pm Ateneo Blue Eagles W 70–59 1–1 Francisco (16) Ninoy Aquino Stadium Manila 3 Jul 24 • 3:30 pm Adamson Soaring Falcons W 81–65 2–1 Latoreno (16) Loyola Center Quezon City 4 Jul 27 FEU Tamaraws W 79–71OT 3–1 Melencio (13) Melencio (6) Ninoy Aquino Stadium Manila 5 Aug 3 NU Bulldogs L 62–68 3–2 Ninoy Aquino Stadium Manila 6 Aug 7 UE Red Warriors W 67–66 4–2 Ninoy Aquino Stadium Manila 7 Aug 7 • 6:00 pm De La Salle Green Archers End of R1 of eliminations L 57–64 4–3 Ninoy Aquino Stadium Manila 8 Aug 21 FEU Tamaraws L 62–68 4–4 Ninoy Aquino Stadium Manila 9 Aug 30 UE Red Warriors W 85–77 5–4 Melencio (23) Melencio (5) Melencio (2) Ninoy Aquino Stadium Manila 10 Sep 6 • 6:00 pm Adamson Soaring Falcons W 66–65 6–4 Araneta Coliseum Quezon City 11 Sep 22 NU Bulldogs W 65–59 7–4 Tied (12) Melencio (4) Singson (4) Adamson University Gym Manila 12 Sep 25 • 6:00 pm Ateneo Blue Eagles W 70–52 8–4 Ninoy Aquino Stadium Manila 13 Sep 27 • 4:00 pm De La Salle Green Archers W 70–58 9–4 Loyola Center Quezon City 14 Sep 30 • 3:00 pm UP Fighting Maroons End of R2 of eliminations W 80–71 10–4 Melencio (18) Melencio (5) Ong (3) Loyola Center Quezon City
Final Four: 0–2 Game Date • Time Seed Opponent Result Series High points High rebounds High assists Location 1 Oct 2 • 3:30 pm (#2) (#3) De La Salle Green Archers L 73–82 0–1 (10–5) Araneta Coliseum Quezon City 2 Oct 4 • 2:00 pm (#2) (#3) De La Salle Green Archers L 72–74OT 0–1 (10–6) Araneta Coliseum Quezon City
(#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in UTC+08:00. Source: UBelt.com (archived)

Postseason tournaments

Postseason game log
Philippine Invitational Basketball Championship: 0–2 Game Date • Time Opponent Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Location 1 Dec 2 • 5:00 pm FEU Tamaraws Semifinal round L 65–81 0–1 Ninoy Aquino Stadium Manila 2 Dec 3 • 2:45 pm SWU Cobras Semifinal round L 61–81 0–2 Ninoy Aquino Stadium Manila
1997 National Intercollegiate Basketball Championships—NCR leg: 3–2 Game Date • Time Opponent Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Location 1 Dec 1 San Beda Red Lions W 74–72 1–0 Rizal Memorial Coliseum Manila 2 Dec 2 CCP Bobcats W 103–85 2–0 David (22) Rizal Memorial Coliseum Manila 3 Dec 3 NU Bulldogs W 78–60 3–0 Tied (16) Rizal Memorial Coliseum Manila 4 Dec 5 UM Hawks L 65–85 3–1 David (15) Rizal Memorial Coliseum Manila 5 Dec 9 San Beda Red Lions L 75–76OT 3–2 Francisco (25) Rizal Memorial Coliseum Manila
(#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in UTC+08:00.

Players drafted into the PBA

Richard Melencio and Ryan Bernardo decided to turn professional after the 1997 season and signed with the Metropolitan Basketball Association's Pangasinan Presidents and Laguna Lakers teams respectively. Both players later applied for the PBA draft, with Bernardo getting picked in the fourth round in 2001 by the Louie Alas-led Mobiline Phone Pals, and Melencio landing the 32nd overall pick in 2002 with the Shell Turbo Chargers team.

Year	Round	Pick	Overall	Player	PBA team
2001	4	4	34	Ryan Bernardo	Mobiline Phone Pals
2002	4	6	32	Richard Melencio	Shell Turbo Chargers