By Vince Matthew Jaramilla

With big shoes to fill after Veejay Pre’s departure, the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws emphasized the value of focusing and stepping up to defeat the University of the East (UE) Red Warriors, 74-57, to tip off their run in the Playtime Cares 18th Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup earlier today, May 22, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

“Nag-focus lang kami sa team namin. Kung anong meron kami, iwo-work on namin 'tsaka unti-unti naming i-fi-fill 'yung sapatos na nawala sa’min which is malaking bagay. 'Yun nga, [next man up] (We just focused on our team. Whatever we have, we will work on them until we eventually fill the big shoes that we lost. It’s next man up),” guard Jorick Bautista said in the post-game conference.

The Tamaraws struggled with turnovers and inaccurate outside shooting early, resulting in a 0-7 slump in the first two minutes. Their first points came with 7:10 left in the first quarter off a wing triple by Jedric Daa.

Led by Luke Felipe’s steady scoring off the bench, FEU gradually improved with their shot selection and defense to keep a one-possession game at the end of the frame, 16-18.

To start the second quarter, Recto-based cager Hunter Cruz-Dumont’s quick twos separated them from the Morayta squad, 16-22. Fortunately, gritty defense came from the latter to keep the former scoreless for the next five minutes, 31-22.

However, the Tamaraws then had trouble with the Warriors’ switch to zone coverage and John Abate’s pesky offense in the first half’s closing moments, leaving just a one-point lead by the end, 33-32.

Daa stepped up yet again in the second half, driving for six markers to stay ahead of the red-and-white squad halfway through the third frame, 41-37.

FEU’s momentum continued with behind-the-arc shots from Bautista and Adam Nakai, accounting for one and two, respectively, to end the quarter with a comfortable 52-43 score.

With a large deficit at hand, the Sean Chambers-led squad’s mental lapses in the fourth quarter did not matter as they eventually cruised to the 74-57 victory.

In the same conference, Chambers mentioned how he talked to his usual bench players to give more effort to achieve the win.

"It is what it is. [Jedric] stepped up, Aeron [Bagunu] stepped up, Luke stepped up. Luke didn't play last year… Luke and Aeron, they're next man up. And trust me, they wanna play, you know? There's a lot of guys who didn't play that wanna play so here's your chance to get minutes,” he said.

The lead tactician also highlighted how Pre’s absence affected their system and championship hopes, but remained confident in their ability to compete.

"No doubt about it, we felt like with Veejay, we returned 90 percent of our offense from last year. We felt like we could've beat[en] any team in this league. We [had] a chance to win a championship, and I still believe that way. We'll just figure out a way to go about it now,” Chambers added.

Player of the Game Bautista finished as the leading scorer with 18 points, followed by Daa with 14. Felipe and Bagunu then had 10 and six respective markers off the bench.

Meanwhile, Janrey Pasaol suffered from a poor one-of-11 shooting, but delivered four rebounds and six assists to compensate, while foreign student-athlete Mo Konateh remained steady with eight points, 15 boards, and four blocks. 

The green-and-gold cagers will have more than a one-week break to enjoy before they see action again contra University of Santo Tomas on June 2 at the same venue.

(Photo courtesy of Hero Dela Peña)