Far Eastern University coach Olsen Racela can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Despite suffering numerous heartbreaks, the Tamaraws still managed to get their act together. They eventually scrapped out a 59-57 victory over National University.
Prior to this game, they had found themselves on a two-game losing skid after dropping narrow defeats to both UP and Adamson.
Against NU, the Tamaraws finally got back in the win column thanks to a game-winning three-pointer by Xyrus Torres with 2.2 seconds left on the clock.
Racela wishes this win serves as the turning point they are desperately looking for, to keep their Final Four hopes alive.
“Lahat naman ng teams ang initial goal is to make it to the Final Four,” said the PBA great. “For the most part, andun kami sa bottom four eh. This is the first time na nag-tie kami sa top four, so we’re hoping that this will be the turning point of our season. Basta gamitin lang namin itong panalong ito for us to be more consistent.
“Madami kaming pinagdaanan eh, pero makakatulong talaga itong panalong ito for our confidence.”
The Tamaraws had to go through a lot in the game just for a chance to nab their fourth win of the season. Their main guys RJ Abarrientos and L-Jay Gonzales weren’t hitting most of their shots from the field. FEU was also staring at an 11-point deficit at halftime.
But the players heeded Racela’s call to do better come the second half.
“It was basically either may pag-asa pa kami sa season or wala na dito sa game na ‘to. The guys showed their character in this game. They never gave up. We trusted each other,” he said.
With a must-win game on the line, the Tamaraws responded. They used a total team effort to execute in crunch time and secure the crucial victory.
“Like I said earlier, ‘yung mga ganitong sitwasyon kasi puwede namang mag-kanya kanya na sila. Sa skill na meron si L-Jay [Gonzales], sa skill na meron si RJ [Abarrientos] ‘di ba? Puwede nang mag-kanya kanya eh pero hindi,” Racela claimed.
“We trusted each other and we defended in the second half, we limited our turnovers. Minsan sa UAAP talagang you just hang on at hopefully, dikit lang at in the end, you get that victory. Kami, with the shot of Xyrus [Torres], ‘yun na ‘yung nagpapanalo samin,” he continued.
“Again, ‘yung character nila of not giving up and trusting one another is very important for us.”
The Tamaraws still have a lot left to do as they currently find themselves in a logjam for the fourth spot in the standings. Hopefully, this game would be the spark that would help them regain their momentum and propel them back to their winning ways for the remainder of the season.
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