MANILA – The University of Santo Tomas defeated the University of the East in the boys' and junior high school divisions on Monday at the start of the UAAP 3x3 basketball tournament.

UST, composed of Carl Manding, Koji Buenaflor, Charles Bucsit, and Charles Esteban, pulled off a 19-13 win in the high school division, while the U16 team of Andwele Cabanero, Miguel Jubilado, Dustin Bathan and Roi Balague, prevailed in the inaugural junior high, 13-11.

"Our coaches told us before the game to just play our game. We really prepared for this because we knew UE was strong, so we really gave it our all," said Cabanero, a member of Season 87 Mythical Five.

In other high school results, Far Eastern University-Diliman downed Ateneo de Manila University, 18-15; Adamson University clobbered University of the Philippines Integrated School (UPIS), 21-13; and National University-Nazareth School (NUNS) beat De La Salle Zobel, 22-20 in overtime.

Other winners in the junior high were NUNS over DLSZ, 20-18; UPIS over Adamson, 19-14; and Ateneo over FEU-Diliman, 19-17.

"We need to improve our communication because sometimes we don't talk to each other on the court, and we lose our defensive shape. For us, we just have to do our best and win the championship so we can repeat," said Cabs Cabonilas, runner-up in the 5-on-5 MVP race. (PNA)