The Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws survived four grueling quarters of basketball to outlast the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigresses, 57-56, at the Blue Eagle Gym on Sunday morning.
The tightly-contested ballgame saw numerous lead changes with neither team leading the other by more than four points throughout the game. Trailing 27-29 coming into the third quarter, the Lady Tamaraws led by Angel Arellano would take a four point lead halfway through the quarter, but UST’s responded in kind by scoring 14 of her 17 points in the second half and keep the the Tigresses biting at FEU’s heels.
The heated affair continued in the fourth quarter, with both teams trading leads for most of the quarter. The Tamaraws would eventually take a 57-56 lead with less than a minute remaining in regulation, after a UST cold spell heading into the final two minutes that saw the Tigresses continuously missing on the chance to steal the lead from FEU. Melanie Siapoc missed a potential game winner for UST in the final seconds that led to a mad scramble for the ball in the last ten seconds. However, FEU would hold on to the ball and the win, after a swipe from Arellano gave FEU possession of the ball with barely any time left for UST to run to their end of the court.
Angel Arellano came alive for the Lady Tamaraws came alive for the Morayta-based squad, scoring 23 big markers, while adding 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1 assist. Lore Rivera led all UST scorers with 17 points, 14 in the second half, while also bringing down 12 rebounds for the Tigresses.
The Lady Tamaraws are currently at 2-2, while the Tigresses fall to a 1-3 hole.
