Dwyne Enriquez and Prince Cariño steadied Far Eastern University-Diliman against every Adamson University second-half surge, steering the Baby Tamaraws to a wire-to-wire 90-76 victory and into the UAAP Season 88 Junior High School Basketball stepladder semifinals on Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The third-seeded Baby Tamaraws will take on the No. 2 University of Santo Tomas Tiger Cubs on Wednesday at 8:30 AM at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
FEU-D dropped both of its elimination-round matchups against UST, including a 108-70 blowout in the second round.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
“Sinabihan ko lang sila na kung ano’t ano mangyari, kung bumabangon ang kalaban, tuloy-tuloy tayo maglalaro, hindi tayo hihinto sa gagawin natin. Kung sinong huminto maglaro diyan, siya ang matatalo,” said Baby Tamaraws head coach Muriel Garcia.
After trailing the entire first half, Adamson pulled within six at the 6:44 mark of the third quarter, 53-47. But Enriquez took over, matching the Baby Falcons basket for basket and pouring in 16 points in the period to keep FEU-D ahead entering the fourth, 69-60.
“We were only up by five and sa timeout sinabi ko, let’s continue to play, humihinto tayong maglaro kaya nagka-ganyan tayo. Nag-react naman sila,” added Garcia.
Adamson cut the lead down to five in the payoff period, 75-70, before Cariño and Enriquez steadied FEU-D once again. Together with Andrei Chavez and Kyle Mojica, they sparked an 11-2 finishing run that finally put the game out of reach, 86-72.
“Simula pa lang sa practice hinigpitan na kami ni coach. Kailangan namin ng effort talaga, magkaisa sa team, so dinala namin ‘yung effort dito kaya nakuha namin ang panalo,” said Enriquez, who finished with 29 points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks.
Cariño added 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Mojica chipped in 10.
Prince Pineda also delivered an all-around line of six points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
In his final game for the 16U squad, Fran Flores erupted for 31 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals to lead Adamson.
Keefy Iledan supported him with 20 points, eight rebounds, and four assists.
Aside from Flores, seven other Baby Falcons also suited up for the last time in the junior high school division.
The Scores:
FEU-D (90) – Enriquez 29, Cariño 20, Mojica 10, Cañete 7, Pineda 6, Desiderio 6, Daa 5, Chavez 4, Mampao 3, Barlan 0.
AdU (76) – Flores 31, Iledan 20, Del Monte 9, E. Jordan 5, Vengco 5, Abas 2, Esma 2, Padrejuan 2, A. Jordan 0, Vargas 0.
Quarterscores: 24-11, 46-34, 69-60, 90-76.
