Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws conceded to the National University (NU) Bulldogs after shutting the University of the East (UE) Warriors down in the opening day of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 3x3 basketball tournament elimination round, May 2, at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay Activity Center in Parañaque City.

In their first match against UE, the Tamaraws immediately showcased their offensive firepower through their outside shooting, knocking down four straight two-pointers.

The green-and-gold squad put up the same effort on the other end with tight defense, but the Red Warriors were able to deliver tough shots to keep the game close.

At the 12-all deadlock, the Morayta-based squad were granted an opportunity to pull away as the Recto-based squad got into early foul trouble.

With the Red Warriors at penalty, the Tamaraws did not look back and mustered up a 9-2 run by taking advantage of their several chances at the charity stripe and continuing to rely on their shooting, sealing their first win, 21-14.

In a post-game interview with FEU Advocate, green-and-gold captain Aeron Bagunu credited their trust and confidence for their performance on both ends of the floor.

"Nagtiwala lang kami sa isa't isa and 'yung system ni coach Mau [Belen], hindi mawawala 'yon. Every time na may nagkakamali sa [teammates] namin, ine-encourage lang namin para hindi mawala 'yung confidence niya. Sa defense naman, 'yun 'yung [number one priority] namin eh (We just trusted each other and kept coach Mau Belen’s system in mind. Every time that someone among our teammates would commit an error, we just encourage them to keep their confidence high. In terms of defense, that's our number one priority)," he said.

Meanwhile, in their game against NU, the green-and-gold cagers stuck to their gameplan of relying on their outside shooting on offense and hustling on defense.

However, their execution did not flow with the same efficiency due to the Bulldogs' hard-nosed defense.

The Morayta-based squad also failed to clog the paint up on the defensive end, providing little to no challenge for the Jhocson-based squad to get easy points near the basket.

Struggling to mount any sort of comeback and failing to crack double-digit points, the Tamaraws lose decisively, 8-21.

In another interview, Bagunu mentioned their lack of aggression in their loss and how they hope to improve through their learnings from it.

"Siguro nag-relax kami nu’ng una and hindi namin masyadong pinaramdam 'yung aggressiveness namin. Mas natuto kami sa game na 'yun and hopefully, ma-bring namin 'yung learnings sa [games] namin bukas (Maybe we relaxed at the start and we didn't convey our aggressiveness that much. We learned more from that game and hopefully, we get to bring those learnings to our games tomorrow)," he said.

With a win and a loss, the green-and-gold squad gain a total of 29 points and intend to boost their record with their matches against University of the Philippines and Adamson University tomorrow, May 3, at the same venue.

-Vince Matthew Jaramilla

(Photo courtesy of The UAAP)