FEU rebounds with rout of UP

By Josiah Albelda Posted Jul 27th 2014

Not lacking in urgency even against a lowly team, Far Eastern University stepped hard on the gas and pulled away with a big win.

The Tamaraws dropped a backbreaking bomb in the middle quarters to crush University of the Philippines, 85-71, in the 77th UAAP men's basketball tournament Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

"We treated this game as a very important one, especially coming off a loss," said coach Nash Racela, who lauded his team for breaking the Fighting Maroons' will.

After a four-point play by Dave Moralde made it 39-38 late in the second quarter, the Morayta cagers went on a searing 31-7 run behind virtually everyone, taking a 70-45 lead that UP could not recover from.

"The previous loss gave us a lot of lessons," Racela added. "But when we were able to correct our mistakes, it was a beauty to watch us."

FEU's defense went to hard work in the third period, limiting the Maroons to only eight points on a 6% shooting, with only sophomore Kyles Lao buying a field goal for UP.

Carl Cruz, Ron Dennison, and Anthony Hargrove combined for 14 points in that stretch, helping the Tamaraws move to the upper half of the standings with a 2-1 record.

A Mike Tolomia triple made it 78-52 early in the final canto, and even a late run by the Maroons could not prevent the latter from falling to their 25th consecutive defeat dating back to August 19, 2012.

"I always talk about inconsistencies," Racela said. "We could be very good at times. We could be very bad at times. Yung third quarter is how they game should be played."

FEU outrebounded UP, 47-27, and its bench delivered big time in blasting the Maroons' reserves, 42-19.

Mac Belo, playing off the bench for the first time this season, had 12 points and nine rebounds to complement Tolomia's 18 points, four boards and three assists for the Tamaraws.

"Today, Mac showed his true leadership," shared Racela. "After playing two very good games, nag-sacrifice siya. Even if he was coming off the bench, di siya nagpilit."

RR Pogoy and Cruz each finished with 11 markers for FEU, who also drew 10 points and seven boards from Hargrove.

On the other hand, JR Gallarza paced UP with 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists while Moralde and Lao added 14 and 10 markers, respectively.

The scores:

FEU (85) — Tolomia 18, Belo 12, Pogoy 11, Cruz 11, Hargrove 10, Dennison 7, Tamsi 4, Jose 4, Inigo 3, Denila 3, Delfinado 3, Ru. Escoto 0, Ri. Escoto 0, David 0, Ugsang 0, Lee Yu 0

UP (71) — Gallarza 18, Moralde 14, Lao 10, Juruena 8, Amar 7, Asilum 6, Gingerich 3, Vito 3, Reyes 2, Dario 0, Lim 0, Harris 0

Quarters: 28-21, 45-38, 70-46, 85-71