Flores (4th from right) hopes to coach FEU to a title in season 75
Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City – Cebuano Bert Flores-coached Far Eastern University Tamaraws stole a victory over UST Growling Tigers in their opening game in the 75th season of the UAAP. Season 73 MVP RR Garcia converted off a turnover by Jeric fortuna in the dying seconds of the game to lead FEU to a 73-72 victory.
It took Consolacion, Cebu native Bert Flores 30 minutes to find the right combination to beat the Growling Tigers as FEU trailed by ten going into the final period, 50-60. Terence Romeo waxed hot in the payoff period as he combined with Garcia to score 17 of the Tam’s 23 fourth quarter points. Their efforts led to a 15-4 run to grab the lead from UST at 65-64. UST’s Karim Abdul managed to tie the game at 65. The teams kept countering each other as the score was still knotted at 69-all with less than 2 minutes left. Jeric Teng hit a triple to give UST a 3 point lead at crunch time, 72-69. In the ensuing play, 2 points were credited to FEU after Kevin Ferrer was called for basket interference. In the next possession, coach Pido Jarencio gave point guard Jeric Fortuna the responsibility to orchestrate a game winning play but Fortuna lost the ball to Garcia resulting to the game winner. Without a timeout and with just 10 seconds left in the game, Aljon Mariano ended up missing a field goal attempt in the game’s final possession.
Karim Abdul of UST led all scorers with 24 points along with 16 boards. RR Garcia had 21 points to lead the winners. Cebuano Roger Pogoy had 6 points for FEU.
In the first game, hosts NU Bulldogs gave the UE Red Warriors a merciless beating a 35 point win 90-55. Former CEC Dragons Mark Olayon had 7 points in his UAAP debut for UE while teammate Roy Villarias was held scoreless.
The scores:
NU 90: Javillonar 19, Parks 18, Alolino 12, Rosario 10, De Guzman 8, Villamor 6, Mbe 4, Labing-isa 3, Ignacio 3, Betayene 3, Perez 2, Neypes 2, Celda 2, Singh 0, Rono 0, Khobuntin 0
UE 55: Sumang 21, Razon 8, Gallanza 8, Olayon 7, Santos 4, Belleze 2, Javier 2, Flores2, Sumido 1, Alberto 0, Villarias 0, Valdez 0, Duran 0, Duncil 0
Quarter scoring: 13-15, 48-23, 72-40, 90-55
FEU 73: Garcia 21, Hargrove 14, Romeo 13, Tolomia 8, Pogoy 6, A Bringas 4, Mendoza3, Cruz 2, M Bringas 2, Belo 0, Escoto 0
UST 72: Abdul 24, Teng 18, Mariano 10, Bautista 7, Fortuna 6, Afuang 5, Ferrer 2, Vigil 0, Pe 0, Lo 0, Daquioag 0
Quarter scoring: 18-21, 31-37, 50-60, 73-72
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- UAAP coaches see Ateneo and NU as teams to beat (sports.inquirer.net)
- Unified Garcia and Romeo key to FEU’s drive in UAAP 75 (sports.inquirer.net)
- Tamaraws rally past Growling Tigers
- NU wins UAAP Season 75 opener
- Teng brothers match-up fuels UST-La Salle rivalry (sports.inquirer.net)
- ANS gets FEU support in exchange of players (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
- Far Eastern University Art Deco and Art Heritage Tour (laurenvillarama.blogspot.com)
