FEU COMES FROM BEHIND TO BEAT ATENEO, KEEPS UAAP FINALS HOPES ALIVE
By Maxine Louise Lagman
26 November 2016
OUT of three meetings in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament season 79, the Far Eastern University defeated the Ateneo Blue Eagles for the first time in a very close game, 62-61 on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena to keep their finals hopes alive.
FEU veteran Raymar Jose proved that the Tamaraws would not go down without a fight, as he led the squad and dominated both in the offensive and defensive end. The Tamaraws owned the first half of the game, making a 23-20 end.
But, the second seeded Blue Eagles made a run in the third period and left FEU 42-35 and even extended their lead to ten early in the fourth.
“I remember telling the whole bench during the quarter break not to break down,” said FEU Coach Nash Racela when he noticed the Ateneo Blue Eagles already gaining their momentum and continued to make a run in the match.
Monbert Arong took the lead and drove the Tamaraws to overcome Ateneo’s 10-point lead, as he made a big run with Jose’s putback that put them into a two-point advantage, 51-49. But Ateneo had their lead back with a six points advantage.
“I told them not to break down. We were trying our best. Halos bumigay na nga kami. Pero, true enough, they accepted the challenge,” said Racela.
Arong was unstoppable and made a jumper off a Jose’s rebound, making a 57-55 lead again and continued on to a 60-55 in the last seconds of the game.
The game was only closely tied by Thirdy Ravena who made a late two three-pointers for Ateneo.
Graduating Jose finished with a double-double record, 20 points and a career-high 23 rebounds, from which he out-rebounded the Ateneo Blue Eagles.
“Sa puso ko ayaw ko pang magbakasyon eh. Last year ko na, gusto ko effort talaga na kahit anong mangyari, laban lang kami,” said Jose.
Arong had 13 points for the Tamaraws, nine of which he had all in the fourth quarter and added two rebounds and two assists. While Prince Orizu had nine points and 10 rebounds.
Ateneo finished their six-game winning streak despite Aaron Black and Thirdy Ravena’s efforts to end the game with a win and face La Salle Green Archers in the finals, but they have to endure another game against FEU on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Black had 11 points while Ravena had ten points for Ateneo.
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