FEU trounces UST, continues to crowd Ateneo on top

Far Eastern University accomplished its mission of starting the 72nd UAAP men’s basketball tournament second round with a victory trouncing University of Santo Tomas, 75-67, on Saturday at the Big Dome.

“Sabi ko nga sa mga bata during the huddle, I want to start the second round with a victory unlike in the first," said FEU mentor Glenn Capacio, referring to their defeat to defending champion Ateneo in their opening match this season.

And the Tamaraws responded, notching their seventh straight win since losing to the Blue Eagles on July 12. The win also put them to a two-way tie with their opening day conquerors with both teams holding similar 7-1 slates.

Better still, they were able to repeat against the Growling Tigers, whom the Tamaraws defanged with a 90-63 win last August 6.

The Tams completed the win despite missing the services of veteran big man Reil Cervantes, who served his one-game suspension.

Unlike in their first encounter, the Tigers were able to keep the match close this time but the España-based dribblers failed to stop their neighbor’s from Morayta of handing them their fourth loss in eight matches that them from third to fifth spots with idle teams La Salle and University of the East.

“Alam kong gagawa ng adjustment ang UST," said Capacio. “Actually, hirap nga kami na bantayan ang mga big men nila kasi hindi lamang sa loob tumitirada kungdi maging sa labas."

“Pero I still think na maganda ang inilaro namin ngayon medyo nawala nawala lang ang aming depensa kay Ababou," added Capacio. “Last time we limited him to 10. Pero isa sa attitude ng magagaling na players ay 'yung bumalik sa laro after a bad game."

With Ababou leading the charge, UST even posted a 20-13 lead after the first quarter but slowly faded as FEU gained its momentum. The Tams even held on to a 64-55 spread with 6:42 left in the final period.

Making things happen for FEU was playmaker Andy Barroca and wingman Ric Cawaling who dished out eight of FEU’s 17 assists clearly showing that the Tamaraws played more as a team compared to UST, whose offense was focused mainly on Ababou, Clark Bautista and Jeric Teng.

The three combined for 46 points.

Although Allein Maliksi and Christopher Camus combined for 14 points, UST missed the double-figure contribution of Khasim Mirza who was held to only four points in 23 minutes of action.

Barroca also scored 23 markers while Hippolyte Noundou added 11 markers and 12 rebounds to help Aldrech Ramos, who likewise grabbed 12 rebounds, as FEU won the battle of the boards.
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"Hopefully we can win more games, sabi ko nga dati, sa second round mas buhos ang laro ng mga teams mas nakakapag-adjust," noted Capacio. – Perry Legaspi, GMANews.TV