By Joshua Kyle Beltran

Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraw head coach Sean Chambers commended foreign student-athlete Mo Konateh’s tenacity after defeating University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers, 72-63, in the Playtime Cares 18th Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup earlier today, June 2, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

“I personally believe he doesn’t get the calls he deserves… He gets physically beat up a lot down there… but absolutely, he played 35 minutes, 16 points, 21 rebounds, and he could’ve played another 20 minutes. Mo’s spectacular,” the head tactician asserted in the post-game conference.

Konateh was named Player of the Game (POG) after a monstrous 16 points and 21 rebounds.

After over a week-long break, the green-and-gold squad swiftly established a six-point lead after a three-pointer courtesy of Jorick Bautista, 10-6.

This set the tone of the match as Kirby Mongcopa, Liam Salangsang, and Rojan Montemayor each chipped in their own triples, sealing the first canto with a 12-point lead, 28-16.

In the second frame, Jedric Daa quickly extended the lead to 14, 30-16, after an aggressive drive to the basket.

This was followed by Konateh and UST’s Peter Osang’s one-on-one in the paint, which made the España-based cagers shift to a more pressing defense. Even with three Tigers guarding the former, FEU’s offensive rebounds still overturned the latter’s defense, ending the second half at 44-31.

The Tamaraws saw an unexpected turn of events at the start of the third frame with a 7-2 run by UST, 46-38. 

However, pressure evidently set in for the Chambers-led squad as their shots failed to connect, facing one of their slimmest gaps at 49-44.

Utilizing their pick-and-rolls, the Tamaraws still ended up having comfortable leeway as Salangsang closed the third canto with a swift layup, 57-48. 

Recovering from scrambled offense, the pace was kept slow but steady entering the fourth canto as Bautista showed strong handles to catch the Tigers off guard, 59-50.

Flawless passes were then executed by the Morayta cagers toward the end of the game, with Daa capping the scoreboard at 72-63.

Chambers also expressed his unchanged confidence toward the team in the preseason.

“Last year after our fifth game in the season, we were going to be a problem for everyone moving forward. That has not changed, my mindset is still the same,” he said.

Leading in the scoring department along with POG Konateh is Bautista, also with 16 points. Meanwhile, Daa posted a respectable 8 points and 5 rebounds. 

The Morayta-based cagers are now on a 2-0 win streak and will face the University of the Philippines on June 12 at the same venue. 

(Photo by Melvin James Urubio/FEU Advocate)