IT WAS a bad start for the Far Eastern University as they rallied from a 20-point deficit against the University of the Philippines, and took control of the game in the last three quarters and sealed their seventh straight win, 63-60 on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Tamaraws was able to survive their bad start in the game with a 28-8 run by the end of the first ten minutes. But starting in the second period, FEU slowly emerged in the game and made progress with a 19-8 run.
“From the start, it was really really hard playing a team like UP. Talagang right now, we know that they are energized to play basketball in the second round,” said FEU Coach Nash Racela.
By the second half of the game, Kenneth Tuffin’s triple boosted the Tamaraws to play hard and closed the third into a 46-46 tie.
The Tamaraw’s defensive end improved and pressured UP in the game. The Maroons almost had the chance to put the game into an overtime, but graduating guard Jett Manuel missed the shot and sealed the win for the other team.
“Bad start kami. Masyado kaming passive eh, kaya nung half time na sinabi ni coach na kung gusto namin manalo, pagtrabahuhan naming. Kaya sumunod nalang kami sa sistema and pinagtrabahuhan namin,” said Raymar Jose.
FEU had their seventh consecutive win and improved to 8-2 record, still the second best behind DLSU. They at least secured a playoff for semifinal berth.
Jose had 20 points and 12 rebounds. While Allen Trinidad and Monbert Arong added nine and eight points, respectively.
Manuel led UP with 16 points and eight rebounds. Paul Desiderio had 13 points, while Jerson Prado had 10 points and seven rebounds.
UP loss for the second consecutive time and fell to 3-8 in the UAAP standing.
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