By Vince Matthew Jaramilla
Despite Jorick Bautista delivering his best scoring performance in Season 89, the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws missed an opportunity to bolster their Final Four bid against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers, 85-86, in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament earlier today, November 8, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
The team captain tallied 27 markers on 52.4 percent shooting, including five treys, while also dishing out four assists.
Bautista led the Tamaraws’ early charge, sparking an eight-point surge that allowed them to hold the advantage halfway through the first frame despite the Tigers’ easy points in the paint, 12-8.
Newly subbed-in Elias Gish sustained FEU’s lead with six markers late in the quarter, while Bautista eventually returned to cap off the canto with a turnaround jumper for his 10th point, 24-19.
Despite the momentum, the Morayta-based squad suffered a 2-9 slump in the second frame, before Bautista and Gish broke the drought with their respective triples to snatch the lead back, 32-31.
From then on, the rival teams traded baskets in the remaining four minutes, with coaches Sean Chambers and Pido Jarencio exchanging back-to-back timeout calls. FEU eventually took the lead before halftime with a Jedric Daa three, 45-43.
After the break, the green-and-gold squad struggled to start the third canto, giving up seven straight points and prompting Chambers to sue for time after just one and a half minutes, 45-50.
The Tamaraws eventually forced a 55-all deadlock following the timeout, but Bautista and Mo Konateh’s combined 16 markers could only do so much against the Tigers’ trey downpour, 63-69.
In the final quarter, FEU flipped the script with a 9-2 run, this time forcing UST’s Jarencio to also call for a break after just one and a half minutes, 72-71.
As the game turned into a seesaw battle, the scoring stalled for three minutes at 77-80, only to be shattered by Cabs Cabonilas’ second-chance lay with two minutes left.
Cabonilas stayed hot, answering España cager Amiel Acido’s triple with one of his own. However, the latter had another bullet in his clip, with FEU unable to stop him from shooting straight through the hoop, 82-86.
The Morayta-based squad resorted to the foul game and banked on their shooting in the final seconds, but they were unable to take the lid off the cup.
With nine seconds left, UST’s Collins Akowe missed both free throws, allowing Bautista to finally knock down a three and close the gap. However, the buzzer sounded in the same instant, proving the comeback attempt to be too late, 85-86.
The Tamaraws still hold the three-seed with a 6-5 win-loss record, while the Growling Tigers right back to Final Four contention as they go up to 5-6 instead of falling to 4-7.
In a post-game interview, head coach Sean Chambers expressed pride in his players despite the game slipping away from their hands.
“We knew they [UST] were very desperate. If they lost tonight, it would've been really bad… I was really proud of them. I mean, we battled, we battled, we battled. It was like, one shot, this shot, their shot, we made a shot. That game was playoff basketball. So, it was amazing to be a part of it,” he said.
Chambers also stressed the importance of not backing down against the UAAP’s top teams, as FEU is set to face fellow top-four seaters University of the Philippines (UP), National University, and De La Salle University.
“I believe this. If you want to get to that level, you have to beat those teams. I think you have to beat those teams in order to be at the Final Four. Because those are where you're going to be at. I don't think you can avoid that. So, you can't avoid trying to play with the top teams if you're not capable of beating them,” he added.
Following Bautista on the stat sheet, Cabonilas and Kirby Mongcopa scored 14 points apiece, while Gish and Mo Konateh narrowly missed the double-digit list with nine points each.
The Chambers-led squad will begin their final push for the playoffs against top seed UP on Saturday, November 14, at the same venue.
(Photo by Prince Espela/FEU Advocate)