Sweep almost complete for raging Tamaraws

By Josiah Albelda Posted Jul 21st 2013

Smelling sweep.

Far Eastern University's three-pronged guard assault took the spotlight once more as the Tamaraws trimmed University of Santo Tomas to move one win away from a sweep of the 76th UAAP men's basketball tournament first round Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Terrence Romeo, RR Garcia and Mike Tolomia all shone bright as FEU upended the Growling Tigers, 77-67, for their sixth straight win.

Now that their team is sitting securely atop the UAAP standings, coach Nash Racela still isn't about to brand the Tamaraws as contenders.

"Those are just numbers and it doesn't guarantee anything," said Racela of FEU's 6-0 start. "What's important is we sustain the momentum."

Romeo had three triples and finished with 19 points, Garcia was brilliant with 17 points, four rebounds and six assists and Tolomia came up big with 12 markers, seven boards and seven dimes as the Tamaraws continued their best start since Season 73.

Both squads battled toe-to-toe in the first two periods, with Karim Abdul, Tata Bautista and Kevin Ferrer leading the Tigers' charge and Garcia carrying FEU on his back with 12 early points.

Two free-throws by Aljon Mariano drew UST within five at 63-58 with 9:11 remaining on the game before FEU replied with an 11-2 salvo in the next five minutes that gave them a 74-61 advantage, 4:33 on the clock.

Four more charity conversions from the Tigers trimmed the deficit to nine, but Roger Pogoy and Mac Belo sealed the victory for the Tamaraws with three straight points.

With Adamson University looming as their next foe, Racela still believes that there are things to be improved on FEU's attack.

"It's still a work in progress," he said of his Tamaraws. "But I think it's getting better. The question now is consistency."

Abdul wounded up with a monster double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds even as Ferrer contributed 18 points, seven boards and three assists in UST's second defeat this season.

The Scores:

FEU 77 – Romeo 19, Garcia 17, Brlo 14, Tolomia 12, Mendoza 6, Pogoy 5, Hargrove 2, Jose 1, Cruz 1, Iñigo 0, Sentcheu 0.

UST 67 – Abdul 21, Ferrer 18, Bautista 14, Mariano 10, Lo 2, Daquioag 2, So 0, Pe 0, Lao 0.

Quarters: 18-21, 39-37, 62-56, 77-67.