Far Eastern University is inches away from dethroning De La Salle University following their 65-60 victory in the opening match of their virtual best-of-three showdown in the Final Four phase of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 77 men’s basketball on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Mike Tolomia, who muffed free throws that eventually resulted in their loss to Ateneo de Manila University a week earlier, led the Tamaraws with with 19 points, eight rebounds, and two steals. Mac Belo added 15 points and 10 rebounds to their cause.
However, it was the less herald Tamaraws in the person of undersized power forward Carl Bryan Cruz and point guard Achie Inigo who stole the game from the Archers.
With FEU up by a hairline, 61-60, with less than a minute left, Cruz stood his ground and drew a charging foul from King Archer Jeron Teng to buy time for the Tamaraws.
The Green Archers had another chance of grabbing the lead but Norbert Torres missed his inside stab. Belo grabbed the board and sent the ball to Inigo, who issued a long lob pass to a waiting Cruz for the easy lay-up as FEU surged to a 65-63 lead with 22 seconds left.
RELATED: NU ousts UE for last Final Four ticket
A missed desperation triple from La Sallian Almond Vosotros and subsequent split free throws from Tolomia and Cruz sealed the deal for the Tamaraws.
“It was hard to prepare for this game, especially coming off a loss to Ateneo. But again, today, it just showed the character of the team,” said FEU Head Coach Nash Racela.
“Today, it wasn’t easy to beat De La Salle. But good thing our players were really persevering, especially when we were struggling in the second half.”
The Tamaraws paced the first half and held a 12-point advantage early in the third quarter, 43-31, but this lead was overturned on the strength of a 19-7 run, anchored on the stonewall frontline of Torres, Jason Perkins, and Arnold Van Opstal, paving for Almond Vosotros’ and Julian Sargent’s outburst as the backcourt duo rained five three-pointers on FEU to knot the contest at 50-all with 48.5 left in the third.
But the Green Archers uncharacteristically misfired inside the key during their hot streak that both teams failed to pull away, despite parading their triple post lineup most of the time.
Worse, De La Salle could not buy a basket in the last 3:25 of the match, their last via a tough baseline layup from Van Opstal.
“I’ve talked to them after the game, and the players said it well, it’s about defense. I think it’s our defense that gave us the win,” Racela added.
Jason Perkins fired 15 markers and 13 boards, while Vosotros connected on 13 points and five rebounds for the Green Archers.
The next match between the two schools will happen on September 27, in which a win for the Tamaraws will mean a ticket to the Finals.
However, Racela stressed that his squad “has not achieved anything yet.”
“We can’t celebrate yet. We need to win one more game,” he said.
With reports from Merck Maguddayao
RELATED: NU ousts UE for last Final Four ticket
