After going back and forth with the ADMU Blue Eagles over the first half of the opening quarter, the FEU Tamaraws unleashed a 12-2 run to close the period with a 12 point advantage and from that point on, they did not look back.
The veteran duo of guard Mike Tolomia and forward RR Pogoy combined for 19 of the FEU Tamaraws’ 23 points in that first quarter run that paved the way to an easy 88-64 victory. Kiefer Ravena tried to keep Ateneo within striking distance, even scoring 10 straight points early in the third quarter, but it was not enough.
The Tamaraws, already picked by many to win the UAAP Season 78 title going into this year’s wars, further cemented their place as the favorites with this overwhelming opening day win.
“I’m proud of all of them. They were up to the challenge,” shared FEU head coach Nash Racela after the match. He added, “If you score 88 points in 40 minutes that’s good enough. We carried over one of our strengths from last year–we had 17 assists (as a team).”
Mark Belo contributed 16 points to the win. Photo by Ken Koo
Tolomia finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, and six assists while Pogoy had 19 points and three rebounds off the bench. Raymar Jose hustled his way to 16 points and 10 rebounds off the bench as well while star forward Mac Belo also scored 16. FEU finished with an overwhelming 45 points off the bench compared to just 14 for ADMU.
When asked about his team’s performance after the game, Racela quipped “Our objective on defense was to limit Ravena…so I don’t think we were successful defensively.” Ravena led the charge for the Blue Eagles with 25 points, five rebounds, and six assists, but only fellow starter Gwyne Capacio scored in double digits as he chipped in 14 points and four rebounds. Von Pessumal was shackled by the FEU defense and made just three of his thirteen field goal attempts to end the game with only nine points.
One of the bright spots for Ateneo was their free throw shooting as they made 11 of their 12 attempts from the stripe. The Blue Eagles also fielded in six rookies into the game, including the much-hyped Jerie Pingoy and Hubert Cani, but both struggled and combined for just one field goal.
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Photos by Ken Koo
The scores:
FEU 88: Pogoy 19, Tolomia 17, Belo 16, Jose 16, Escoto 6, Inigo 5, Arong 5, Dennison 4, Orizu 0, Escoto 0, Trinidad 0, Holmqvist 0, Tamsi 0
ADMU 64: Ravena 25, Capacio 14, Pessumal 9, Gotladera 6, Wong 4, Ikeh 2, Tolentino A. 2, Cani 2, Pingoy 0, Nieto Ma. 0, Tolentino V. 0, Nieto Mi. 0, Babilonia 0
Quarter scores: 23-11, 44-26, 64-49, 88-64
