The FEU Tamaraws were in the midst of a blitzing run that saw them trim a 12 point lead at the beginning of the fourth period to just three when Mac Belo decided to take over.
Belo then rose up and hit a booming three pointer to tie the count in their match against the UE Red Warriors at 75 barely four minutes into the final quarter. On the next possession, Belo grabbed an offensive rebound in traffic and scored off a putback. He then emphatically swatted UE’s Edison Batillier’s shot out of bounds on the succeeding possession. It was that kind of day at the Mall of Asia Arena for FEU’s star forward.
The Tamaraws then fed off Belo’s energy and continued their run, uncorking 11 straight points over the next three minutes to seal what would become a 92-81 come-from-behind victory over the Red Warriors. The Tamaraws, who trailed for most of the first three quarters, outscored their opponents by 23, 33-10, in the final quarter alone. The Tamaraws now sport a UAAP-best 4-1 win-loss record on the season while the Red Warriors dropped their third game in five outings.
“Hard earned indeed. We promised our players it was going to be a tough win. Mahirap talaga. It’s a tough UE team,” shared FEU head coach Nash Racela after the win.
Belo’s masterful performance against UE saw him finish the contest with 24 points on nine of 15 shooting from the field. He added eight rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and three three pointers but turned over the ball six times.
Mike Tolomia chipped in with 15 points and eight assists while Monbert Arong had 14 markers of his own. Raymar Jose was a steady force in the middle, finishing with 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Tamaraws.
As a team, the Tamaraws shot 49.2 percent from the field compared to just 38.55 for UE. UE made up for its poor shooting with 21 offensive rebounds and 25 assists as opposed to just 14 and 19, respectively, for FEU.
Edison Batiller led UE with 18 points, five rebounds, and five assists, but made just 35 percent of his field goals.
Racela noted after the game that Arong was supposed to be their main defender against Batiller, but after the latter’s quick start, they had to look elsewhere. He managed to find one and shared, “We found a Batilier stopper in Tamsi. It wasn’t really part of the gameplan… [but] we weren’t surprised because Tamsi is a very disciplined defender.”
Batiller was supported by Chris Javier who notched 13 points and four rebounds and Clark Derige who scored 10 points. UE, however, was limited to just 10 points as a team in the final quarter after scoring at least 21 in each of the first three quarters.
The Red Warriors led by as much as 15 points in the first half–40-25 in the middle of the second quarter–despite trailing 11-2 early in the opening quarter. UE utilized its stifling full court press to build their lead and they forced FEU into committing a total of 24 turnovers for the game.
UE remained in control to begin the second half, with their lead not going lower than seven points in the third period. However, they were not able to contain FEU’s fiery run in the final quarter. FEU gave UE a taste of its own medicine in the final quarter, unleashing their own full court press to disrupt the Red Warriors’ offense.
The Scores:
FEU 92: Belo 24, Tolomia 15, Arong 14, Jose 13, Pogoy 10, Inigo 8, Tamsi 3, Escoto Ru. 2, Orizu 2, Escoto Ri. 1, Dennison 0, Comboy 0, Trinidad 0, Ebona 0
UE 81: Batiller 18, Javier 13, Derige 10, Varilla 9, Abanto 8, Charcos 7, De Leon 7, Palma 6, Manalang 3, Penuela 0, Yu 0
Quarter scores: 21-29, 39-50, 59-71, 92-81
