Nicolai Cabañero shines in UAAP U16 debut despite UST loss

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Young Cebuano standout Nicolai Cabañero may have ended his University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP ) Under-16 debut on the losing end.

But the 12-year-old Growling Tiger showed plenty of promise in University of Santo Tomas’ 75-100 loss to the defending champion National University-Nazareth School (NUNS) Bullpups on Saturday, August 15, at the FEU-Diliman Gym.

Playing against a loaded NUNS side that led from start to finish, Cabañero, last season’s “Mythical Five” awardee of the Cesafi Season 25 12-under here in Cebu displayed the poise and aggressiveness expected from a player making his first appearance on the UAAP stage.

He finished with 13 points, five assists and four steals, providing one of the few bright spots for UST in a game that quickly got away from the Tigers.

He played full season in the Cesafi with the San Carlos School of Cebu (SCSC) Baby Warriors under the tutelage of his father and head coach Dominic Cabañero who also transferred with him and his family to Manila after the Cesafi season.

His last game here in Cebu was nothing short of being impressive. He finishjed with 23 points to help SCSC eke out a 43-41 win over the SHS-AdC Magis Eagles in the 12-under tournament of Cesafi last February. He also averaged 25 points a game, and even tallied more than 40 points in one game during his Cesafi stint.

Tenacity

Cabañero was not overwhelmed by the occasion despite facing a Bullpups squad that raced to a 33-13 lead after the opening quarter and stretched the advantage to 36 points, 64-28, by halftime.

The Cebuano guard also carries a familiar basketball name. He is the younger brother of former UST Growling Tiger Nic Cabañero and current Tiger Cub Andwele Cabañero, giving him an early connection to the storied UST basketball program.

While UST struggled to keep pace with NUNS, Cabañero continued to make his presence felt on both ends of the floor, finishing as the second-leading scorer for the Tigers behind Miguel Austria, who had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

NUNS, meanwhile, opened its title defense in emphatic fashion despite fielding an entirely new lineup from last season’s championship team.

Andrie Lopez led the Bullpups with 19 points, while Martin Macoy added 17 on five three-pointers. But it was 6-foot-2 winger Jesse Arellano who stole the spotlight with a triple-double of 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, along with seven steals.

The Bullpups knocked down 11 triples and built their biggest lead at 41 points, 73-32, before settling for the 25-point victory.

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