Patrick Tchuente finally showed up for Far Eastern University on both ends of the court.
And it came in the best of times. The Tamaraws downed University of the East, 75-68, for their third straight win in the UAAP Season 85 men’s basketball tournament on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The 6-foot-11 Cameroonian student-athlete posted a huge double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds. Moreover, he shot a sweet 6-of-7 from the field.
“Kanina before the game sinabi ko lang kay Patrick is really control the boards and help us on the boards… To get at least 10 rebounds – yun ang goal namin for this second round, at least,” shared FEU coach Olsen Racela.
“That was one aspect of his game na wala noong first round eh, except nung last game against NU.”
Tchuente had an underwhelming performance in the first round. He tallied averages of 2.43 points and 6.14 rebounds in seven outings.
That rebounding average was even at 4.17, which was few for a 6-foot-11 center. Then came his 18-board game against the Bulldogs last October 22, where he saw himself named player of the game in a low-scoring affair, 47-44.
“Ganon lang naman eh, dapat mag-focus ka lang sa mga roles mo sa team. Don’t try to do too much and that’s what we expect from Patrick Tchuente,” said Racela.
With Tchuente’s performance rising along with the Tamaraws’ resurgence, expect FEU to continue building from the momentum they built towards the end of the first round. They first clipped University of Santo Tomas and NU; then came this second-round opening win against the Red Warriors for a 3-5 win-loss card.
Now, they are at sixth following their latest casualty.
Fourth and fifth-running Adamson University and De La Salle University, respectively, are not far – ahead by just half a game with identical 3-4 cards.
“Of course, we’re trying to ride in that momentum that we had in the first round,” Racela said.
