Founded 1924 Head coach Rodil Sablan | Team colors Gold, white, and black Championships 20 | |
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Leagues UAAP, Filoil Flying V League History UST Glowing Goldies
(1924–1992)
UST Growling Tigers
(1992–present) League University Athletic Association of the Philippines | ||
The UST Growling Tigers men's basketball is the intercollegiate men's basketball program of the University of Santo Tomas. The Growling Tigers have won 19 men's basketball titles including one National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship. It is one of the winningest team in University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men's basketball, tied with UE Red Warriors, with 18 titles. The Growling Tigers also participate in Millennium Basketball League Invitational. The team is currently coached by Rodil "Boy" Sablan.
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Glowing Goldies era
The basketball team was previously known as UST Glowing Goldies until 1992. The team won one NCAA championship in 1930. UST then withdrew permanently in NCAA in 1936 and founded UAAP in 1938. Upon the resumption of the UAAP games after the Pacific War, the Goldies were in every championship match from 1946 up to 1956. From 1964 to 1971, the team met the UE Red Warriors eight times in a championship match, with the Red Warriors winning seven encounters.
In the 50th season of UAAP in 1987, the team's Fedencio Oblina was found to be ineligible as he failed his National College Entrance Examinations (NCEE). The board then forfeited all of UST's win where Oblina played, with the Goldies going from a 6–3 record (tied for third) to a 2–7 record, at seventh place ahead of winless NU Bulldogs. The forfeitures benefited Adamson, Ateneo and FEU. Ateneo found themselves at the top of the standings with an 8–1 record. A source of the Manila Standard newspaper confirmed that while Oblina failed the NCEE twice, he passed it in 1985. The UAAP Board then confirmed that Oblina has been meted with a lifetime ban.
UAAP Final Four era
The UAAP introduced a new tournament format known as Final Four in UAAP Season 56. At its first year of implementation includes a four-year run as champions, from the 1993–94 season, where Growling Tigers swept the elimination round with an immaculate 14–0 record (automatic champions), up to the 1996–97 season, where they defeated the De La Salle Green Archers for the third consecutive time in a Finals series. The Tigers were led by coach Aric del Rosario from the 1992–93 season up to the 2003–04 season.
In 2006, the Tigers defeated the Blue Eagles of the Ateneo de Manila University to win their eighteenth UAAP men's title, and their first since the 1996 season. Former Glowing Goldie Alfredo Jarencio piloted UST to the championship as a rookie coach. In 2013 season, the Tigers, led by Jarencio, became the first and only #4 rank team to beat #1 seed since the implementation of Final Four in UAAP. The team defeated top-seeded NU Bulldogs twice in semifinals to face La Salle in Finals after 14 years since 1999.
De La Salle Green Archers
The rivalry between De La Salle Green Archers and the UST Growling Tigers is contested at the UAAP. Both were known for their numerous basketball championship matches in the 1990s, with UST winning four straight titles at the expense of the Green Archers. Prior to La Salle joining the UAAP the two schools met in the championship during 1948–1949 season of the National Seniors Open, a yearly tournament of top collegiate and commercial teams in the country. La Salle defeated UST in overtime to win the title.
The rivalry began on consecutive Finals series in men's basketball between the two schools in the 1990s, with UST winning each time, capping a four-year championship run. La Salle was defeated three consecutive years in the Finals (1994-1996) until 1998 when La salle defeated UST in the semifinals to begin their own four-year championship run, including a 1999 series against UST in which the Tigers won game 1. La Salle bounced back defeating UST in overtime for the 1999 UAAP title. Their basketball rivalry diminished in latter years due to UST's decline. The Game 1 finals victory was their last against La Salle until 2007 when UST won in overtime; at this point, UST's basketball program regressed, but they won in 2006 when La Salle was suspended after admitting they had unknowingly fielded two ineligible players. La Salle would then win all games until 2011. La Salle defeated UST in overtime in the 2013 UAAP basketball championship.
Since 1988, La Salle leads the men's basketball rivalry 31–26, although they're tied at playoff games 8–8. If the forfeited games are reversed, the head-to-head record is 37–20 for La Salle.
UE Red Warriors
The UST–UE rivalry began once the UE Red Warriors became contenders during the mid-1960s to early 1970s, an almost a decade dominated by the Red Warriors. The Glowing Goldies met the Red Warriors eight times in the Finals of the basketball tournament, with the latter winning seven encounters. It is the longest finals appearance between two teams in the UAAP history. In 1967, both teams ended up co-champions in the UAAP, a testament to the fierce rivalry between UST and UE. Notable players at the emergence of this rivalry were Goldies' forward Danilo Florencio and Warriors' Robert Jaworski.
The last playoff meeting between the teams was a deciding semifinal game in the 69th season of UAAP in 2006, with UE holding a twice-to-beat advantage. Tigers won the game with 1-point lead and have sealed their bid to face Ateneo in the Finals.