Far Eastern University’s veteran trio of Mike Tolomia, Mac Belo, and Carl Bryan Cruz put up superhuman performances in the second half to lift the Tamaraws past defending champion De La Salle University, 82-77, in the featured match on opening day of the 77th University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament at Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Tolomia, who was limited to just three points in FEU’s dismal first half performance, put up 20 points in the second half to rally the Tamaraws in upending their tormentors in last season’s Final Four.
Forward Carl Bryan Cruz, not known for his long-range sniping, buried a long bomb from the top of the key to give the Tamaraws their first taste of the lead in the contest, 67-66, with 6:03 left in the contest. Then, Tolomia put up five unanswered points past the midway point to put FEU in the driver’s seat for good.
Belo — who scored a quiet eight points during the team’s mini-rally second period — added 20 points, while Cruz finished with 11.
In the first game, season host University of the East, under newly-installed Head Coach Derrick Pumaren, mercilessly pummeled University of the Philippines, 87-59.
The Red Warriors used the famed Pumaren full-court trap that aided their 26-10 run in the second quarter to set the tone for the rest of the match.
Dan Alberto put up 15 points on a five-for-six clip from long range to overshadow his previous best of 14 points last season. Chris Javier added 12 markers and nine rebounds, while the duo of RR De Leon and Gino Jumao-as scored 10 each to give Derrick Pumaren, who previously steered De La Salle University to back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990, his first win as the Red Warriors’ coach in the UAAP.
“We really came out strong tonight. We really wanted to win this game and make this as our springboard this UAAP season,” said Derrick Pumaren.
“We hounded UP in today’s game. But you can check the turnovers, we had 28 turnovers. We had more turnovers than [17 from] UP. So we have to correct that. If it’s a close game, we’d be in big trouble. We have to take care of the basketball better, we play the finalist [University of Santo Tomas] in the next game. We can’t afford to do that,” he added.
This is UE’s first opening day victory since upsetting De La Salle University, 65-46, in 2009.
Season 76 rookie of the year Kyles Lao led their cause with 18 markers on six-for-15 shooting from the field with four steals, while ex-San Beda forward Dave Moralde added 11 points on three-for-five shooting from long range for UP.
Since Rey Madrid took over the reins of the team from Ricky Dandan during their winless campaign in Season 76, the team has lost seven straight contests.
The Fighting Maroons absorbed their 22nd straight loss in the UAAP. Their last win was against UE, 63-48, in the first round of Season 75 on August 12, 2012.
