23 October 2019
By Maxine Louise Lagman
MANILA, Philippines – Far Eastern University keeps their Final 4 hopes alive after surviving gritty Adamson University, 63-60, on Wednesday in the UAAP Season 82 men’s basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With the win, the Tamaraws improved to a 7-6 win-loss record for the third spot in the league standings, same as University of Santo Tomas. At the same time, FEU eliminated the Soaring Falcons from the Final 4 race as they dropped to a 4-8 slate. This serves as the first time Adamson missed the semifinals under coach Franz Pumaren.
“Well obviously we’re happy with the win, our seventh. But actually, we haven’t done anything yet,” said FEU head coach Olsen Racela. “We have no reason to celebrate and tomorrow balik preparasyon kami against UE, our last game on Sunday.”
FEU was in full control of the game and kept a double-digit advantage at the half, 43-31. But, Adamson managed to slowly cut the deficit and made it a three-point game, 59-56, in the last four minutes of the match after a Jerom Lastimosa layup.
Ino Comboy answered back with a booming triple for a 62-56 advantage. Lastimosa and Lenda Douanga only kept coming back and went on for back-to-back baskets to cut the deficit to two, 62-60. LJ Gonzales drew a foul and his split at the line iced the game as time ran out in their favor.
“Adamson is a strong team, well-coached team. I told the players na babalik at babalik ang Adamson,” said Racela. “I told them to focus on the defense, and ang defense namin carried us in the second half.”
In the end, Comboy, Gonzales, Tuffin all had 11 points in their name as they limited the Soaring Falcons to only 29% shooting from the field.
Jerrick Ahanmisi, Douanga, and Aaron Fermin, on the other hand, had 10 markers each for Adamson in the losing effort.
The Scores:
FEU 63 — Comboy 11, Gonzales 11, Tuffin 11, Bienes 6, Stockton 6, Nunag 5, Ebona 4, Tchuente 4, Torres 3, Alforque 2, Cani 0.
ADAMSON 60 — Ahanmisi 10, Douanga 10, Fermin 10, Lastimosa 9, Camacho 6, Manlapaz 5, Sabandal 4, Mojica 3, Yerro 2, Chauca 1, Bernardo 0, Magbuhos 0.
Quarter scores: 22-12, 43-31, 50-41, 63-60
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