The Far Eastern University, continued their mastery over the University of the Philippines, as the Tamaraws sent the Fighting Maroons back down from cloud nine with a 78-59 win, Sunday afternoon at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Besides lifting their slate to 4-2, good for solo third, FEU extended their winning streak against UP to 12 games. In addition, UP’s two-game winning streak was snapped.
Ron Dennison led FEU once more with 17 points and six boards. But outside of the numbers, the fifth-year guard locked down UP ace Paul Desiderio to just nine points on 4-for-12 shooting, 12 below his season norms.
“Sa akin, yung depensa namin, kasi nagawa namin yung ni-ready namin sa UP, lalong-lalo na sa side ko na si Desiderio, na-limit ko siya sa score,” shared Dennison, who had been Desiderio’s teammate back in high school.
But UP as a team went on a nightmarish shooting slump early in the game that helped FEU break away.
With the game knotted at 14-all, Desiderio and the rest of the Fighting Maroons went cold from the field, while the Tamaraws went on an 11-0 that gave FEU a double-digit lead for good. During that stretch the Fighting Maroons shot a horrid 24 percent from the field.
“It was a defensive game for us. First time namin this year to limit a team to below 60 points. So yun ang focus namin before the start of the game,” shared first year FEU head coach Olsen Racela. “I think timing the[n] na we caught them on an off night. Yung mga napasok nilang shots noong last game against La Salle, hindi pumapasok ngayon.”
Richard Escoto added 12 markers, while Prince Orizu finished with strong numbers of eight points and 14 rebounds.
Behind Ibrahim Ouattara and rookie Juan Gomez de Liano, the Fighting Maroons were able to slowly chip the lead in the third frame and the early parts of the final quarter. A basket by Ouattara and a three-point play by the younger De Liano with 7:17 left cut the lead to just 10, 48-58.
“Well palagi kong sinasabi sa kanila, when a team makes a run, saan tayo magfo-focus? Sa stops,” Racela pointed out. “Normally a team, ‘pag may run, gusto maka-score agad. Kami we focus on stops. Yun ang sinabi ko sa kanila sa bench during that timeout, and nag-respond na rin sila on the offensive end so malaking turnaround.”
The Tamaraws answered right back with an 18-1 run, with Dennison and Jasper Parker combining for 12 markers. FEU led by as many as 27 points, 76-49, after five straight points by Parker.
As the dust settled, UP shot a horrid 31 percent from the field, including 4-for-19 from downtown.
Oattara paced UP with 17 points, 13 rebounds, and two blocks.
FEU look to extend their streak on Saturday, October 7, when they face the Adamson University Soaring Falcons at 4:00pm. UP, on the other hand, take on the same team on Wednesday, October 4, at 2:00pm.
The Scores:
FEU 78 – Dennison 16, Escoto 12, Orizu 8, Inigo 7, Parker 7, Comboy 6, Cani 5, Tuffin 4, Ebona 4, Ramirez 4, Tolentino 3, Stockton 2, Trinidad 0, Nunag 0, Bayquin 0
UP 59 – Ouattara 17, Gomez de Liano Ju 16, Desiderio 9, Dario 8, Manzo 4, Lim 3, Webb 2, Gomez de Liano Ja 0, Vito 0, Ricafort 0, Jaboneta 0, Lao 0, Prado 0
Quarterscores: 18-14, 40-24, 56-43, 78-59
