By Leiniel A. Santos

Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraw Jorick Bautista sunk the game-winning basket against the De La Salle College of Saint Benilde (CSB) Blazers, 74-73, to enter the semifinal round of the Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup earlier today, June 8, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

Resulting in an 18 percent field goal efficiency, Bautista’s offense took a blow with only two successful shots out of 11 attempts, including his only three-point shot in the final 2.7 seconds of the match.

“Basta may oras pa, laban pa rin kami. [Looking] forward pa rin kami (As long as there is time, we are still fighting. We are still looking forward),” he said in the post-game conference.

Both teams started the match by converting successful defense to fortunate offense. Rookie Veejay Pre and Janrey Pasaol sparked the Tamaraws to gain the lead, 9-6.

However, Blazer Jhommel Ancheta found his rhythm early, scoring two beyond-the-arc shots to tie the match.

Despite CSB’s Ian Torres making another trey to steal the lead, FEU’s Jon Godinez answered back to end the first quarter on a deadlock, 21-21.

The green-and-gold squad exerted more dominance during the second quarter as they were leading most of the time.

Despite Pasaol’s two-point shot with 3:06 remaining in the clock, the Tamaraws collapsed, and were unable to react to the Blazers' prowess, 36-41.

During the second half, foreign student-athlete (FSA) Mo Konateh stepped up to raise the intensity with his own points in the paint.

The Morayta-based squad brought the lead back to three to end the third quarter, 53-50.

FEU’s Jedrick Daa’s jumper during the start of the final frame was still not enough to force a momentum swing. 

Fortunately, Tamaraw Pre’s free throw and Pasaol’s two-pointer lit up the scoreboard and forced a deadlock late in the fourth quarter, 66-66.

Time proved to be a struggle on the side of the green-and-gold after CSB’s Winston Ynot clutched a two-pointer, 71-73, leaving just 2.7 seconds on the clock for Bautista’s game-winning play.

Head coach Sean Chambers mentioned that he already expected a tight match against Benilde led by head coach Charles Tiu.

“I saw that they are a very good team. They ran very good plays, they ran very good sets, they are capable of shooting the three point shots. So I knew we were gonna be off for a tight fight,” he said.

Chambers also mentioned Pre’s and Pasaol’s spectacular talents.

“I think Janrey is phenomenal. He is a spectacular talent, he just makes [young mistakes] every now and then… But I think Janrey is amazing. I think Veejay is a professional player, he is born to be an amazing player,” he added.

Rookie Pre and Pasaol led the scoring load of the team with 20 and 19 markers, respectively, while FSA Konateh also contributed 15 points with eight rebounds and three assists.

FEU will now move forward to a do-or-die semifinal round and will face the University of the Philippines tomorrow, June 9, at the same venue.

(Photo by Krystoffer Zyanel Bermudez/FEU Advocate)