Collins Akowe’s stellar debut steers UST to an impressive dub over UP

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Collins Akowe is not your ordinary newcomer in the UAAP seniors’ level.

Going up against the defending champion University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons, the University of Santo Tomas (UST) just found their missing piece to the puzzle as their newly recruited foreign student-athlete led them to an 87-67 statement win to open their UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament campaign on a high note.

On Sept. 21, 2025, the intimidating figure at the post schooled the entire Fighting Maroons and finished the lopsided win with a monster double-double outing of 29 points and 17 rebounds.

From start to finish, Akowe pounded his way in the shaded lane, taking advantage of UP’s decision to go small and bank on their quickness to counter UST’s post-oriented attack.

No matter what adjustment coach Goldwin Monteverde made to douse UST’s heater underneath, the Growling Tigers simply followed the ever-reliable hoops tactic: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Sensing no double-team coverages from UP, UST fed the waxing-hot Akowe and let him operate, which caused instant mayhem in the first half when the Growling Tigers pushed their lead to as much as 20 points.

The six-foot-ten Nigerian bruiser was too much to handle, capping off the victory with an efficient 9-of-15 shooting from the field (60%), including 11 converted free throws.

UP had some moments in the game when they got close to as much as seven points midway through the third, 58-51, but a demoralizing counterattack from UST led by Kyle Paranada and Akowe spoiled the Fighting Maroons’ chances of inching closer in the fourth.

Paranada, who backstopped Akowe when he got his shooting rhythm in the second half, ended up with 18 points derived from 5-of-9 shooting, alongside four assists and three rebounds.

What made the win sweeter was that UST ended their nine-game skid against the Fighting Maroons.

Since the mayhem era of coach Aldin Ayo in 2019, the Growling Tigers dropped all of their games against UP, but Akowe and the rest of the squad knew the stakes in just the very first game of Season 88—and they responded with a sense of urgency.

“It’s a great feeling, just taking advantage of our crowd,” said Akowe after the win.

“I just do what I got to do. I’m representing UST, I have to take it upon myself, they’re taking care of me so this is the way I can pay them back.”