In a rematch of last year’s UAAP finals, the runner-up FEU Tamaraws emerged victorious against the defending champion NU Bulldogs, 61-59, in a game that boiled down to the last few seconds.
FEU had a two point lead and lead guard Mike Tolomia isolated on top of the key and executed his signature in-and-out dribble before attacking the basket with less than 10 seconds left to play–something that he has done countless times over the past few years to defeat countless opponents.
A basket by Tolomia would have sealed the win, but he uncharacteristically missed his lay-up and NU’s Alfred Aroga corralled the rebound with eight seconds remaining.
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Aroga then spotted his teammate Pao Javelona who was just a few feet away and threw him an outlet pass, but Francis Tamsi jumped in and stole the ball, sealing the win for head coach Nash Racela and his Tamaraws.
With the win, FEU forged a tie on top of the UAAP Season 78 standings at the end of the first round. The Tamaraws and the UST Growling Tigers both sport identical 6-1 win-loss cards. On the other hand, NU fell to 3-4 and sit at fifth place, trailing FEU and UST together with the DLSU Green Archers and ADMU Blue Eagles who both have 4-3 slates.
Tolomia, the only Tamaraw to score in double digits, came off the bench and finished with 19 points, five assists, and three three pointers–all of which came in the fourth quarter. The first gave FEU a 50-40 edge at the start of the fourth quarter while the next two came on back-to-back possessions with around two minutes remaining in the game that broke a 52-all tie and gave FEU a six point edge.
Tolomia’s heroics were necessary for FEU in this contest as Mac Belo struggled, finishing with just nine points on three-of-nine shooting.
The Bulldogs were actually in the driver’s seat early on, breaking away from a tight contest to take a seven point lead late in the second quarter before settling on a 34-29 edge going into the break.
However, their downfall came in the third quarter where they scored just six points. Their first two points of the third canto came with 3:57 left to play in the quarter–a drought of more than six minutes. They almost ended the period without a field goal, but Alfred Aroga nailed a lay-up a few seconds before the quarter-end buzzer sounded.
When the smoke cleared and the fourth quarter was about to begin, the Bulldogs saw their five point lead turn into a five point deficit, and they had to play catch-up from that point on.
Despite his late turnover, the Bulldogs would not have been in the game if not for Aroga who carried the fight for the squad for most of the game. He finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds, but had five turnovers–the last being the most costly. Gelo Alolino and Kyle Neypes scored 10 points apiece, but the former shot just four-of-13 from the field.
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The scores:
FEU 61: Tolomia 19, Belo 9, Pogoy 7, Escoto Ru. 5, Tamsi 4, Jose 4, Orizu 4, Arong 4, Trinidad 3, Escoto Ri. 2, Inigo 0, Holmqvist K. 0, Comboy 0, Ebona 0, Holmqvist S. 0
NU 59: Aroga 17, Alolino 10, Neypes 10, Alejandro 7, Javelona 4, Morido 4, Abatayo 3, Salim 2, Tansingco 2, Diputado 0, Javillonar 0
Quarter scores: 13-11, 29-34, 45-40, 61-59
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