Back to work for unbeaten Tamaraws

By Josiah Albelda Posted Aug 14th 2013

Will Far Eastern University's momentum be gone after a long layoff?

That's what we are about to find out when the Tamaraws take on dangerous National University in the 76th UAAP men's basketball tournament on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Winners of seven straight games, FEU hopes to extend its winning run to eight against a team they have already defeated in the first round.

The Tamaraws flaunted torrid shooting against the Bulldogs when the squads first met this season, but the Morayta-based crew had to weather a late comeback by NU to eke out a win.

Expect both teams to fight tooth-and-nail once more as every game would be important in the second round, especially for the Bulldogs, who are in a tight battle for a Final Four seat along with six other teams.

The battle between top MVP contenders in Terrence Romeo and Ray Parks would be an interesting one to watch, too, with Parks still trying to overcome a prolonged shooting slump that has seen him make only 29.3% of his shots in the first round.

But the two-time MVP isn't fazed.

"I am not worried about it (low shooting percentage)," he said. "As long as I get my usual output and we win, it won't matter."

Parks has averaged 18.9 points, 9.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists to finish behind Romeo in the early race for the top individual plum in the UAAP.

The sharpshooting FEU guard has normed a league-high 22.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists so far as the Tamaraws have remained the only unbeaten team in the tournament.

The game will air live on Studio 23, BALLS HD 167, uaapsports.tv and iwantv.com.ph with a same day replay at 11 p.m. on BALLS SkyCable channel 34 or Destiny Cable channel 36.