The Far Eastern University Tamaraws rode a strong start en route to a wire-to-wire win over the slumping University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers, 59-48, to extend their streak to six games, Wednesday evening at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
This time around it was floor general Jojo Trinidad who led the defending champions with 16 points. He went 5-of-13 from the field, knocking down four triples in the contest. King Tamaraw Raymar Jose added nine points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
Behind Trinidad and sophomore big man Ken Holmqvist, the Tamaraws were able jump on the season hosts in the first frame and led by as much as 13 points in the early parts of the second quarter.
Even after notching their sixth straight win, FEU head coach Nash Racela remained wary that his players might become complacent.
“My concern is us believing we’re already a good team because we’ve been winning,” Racela shared. “Baka magkaroon ng complacency on our part. We always remind the players yung mga ganitong games, we have to work on a lot of things na kailangan naming ayusin.”
Just when it appeared that the Tamaraws had this game in the bag, the defense of FEU softened up, allowing UST to mount a comeback. With FEU up 49-49, Louie Vigil and Jeepy Faundo were able to cut the lead to just five, 50-45, with three minutes left in the game.
“My question for them during the halftime, ‘What is your objective for today’s game? Do you want to be ahead of the other team or do you want to be your best today? Those were challenges on them at halftime,” Racela raised.
“I don’t know if I got the answer.”
Late-game baskets by Wendell Comboy and Richard Escoto were able to buck UST’s hijack attempt to seal FEU’s seventh win of the season.
Louie Vigil was the high points man for the Growling Tigers with 18 points. Marvin Lee and Faundo added 12 and 10 points respectively. The rest of the Tigers combined to score just eight points.
As a team, UST shot a horrid 26 percent from the field.
The FEU Tamaraws (7-2) will next face the University of the East Red Warriors (2-6) on Sunday, October 16, at the Filoil Flying V Centre. On the other hand, the UST Growling Tigers (2-7) look to arrest their skid on Saturday, October 15, as they face the National University Bulldogs (4-4) at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
FEU (59) – Trinidad 16, Jose 9, Comboy 8, Escoto 8, Holmqvist 6, Orizu 4, Bayquin 3, Dennison 3, Arong 2, Denila 0, Ebona 0, Roxas 0, Tuffin 0.
UST (48) – Vigil 18, Lee 12, Faundo 10, Afoakwah 2, Arana 2, Subido 2, Sheriff 2, De Guzman 0, Huang 0, Lao 0, Macasaet 0.
Quarterscores: 16-8, 31-23, 45-37, 59-48.
