By Leiniel A. Santos

Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraw Veejay Pre dominated the scoring load despite losing to the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers, 70-79, in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 men’s basketball tournament earlier today, October 27, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Pre’s career-high double-double performance of 31 points and 14 rebounds was the highest among all rookies this season.

In an interview with FEU Advocate, Pre said that they will use this loss as motivation to win their next game.

“31 points pero talo pa rin [kaya] ‘yun nga, hopefully, next game, gawin naming motivation ‘to para makuha na namin ‘yung panalo (31 points but we still lost so that's it, hopefully, next game, we'll use it as motivation so we can get the win),” he shared.

The green-and-gold cagers were unable to claim the first ball possession of the match. Fortunately, Veejay Pre and Jorick Bautista turned the heat up with a shot from downtown each, 6-4.

However, head coach Sean Chambers was forced to call a timeout during the 2:55 time of the opening quarter as the Tamaraws struggled to find the basketball net and score, 6-16.

Jedric Daa and Mohamed Konateh then turned things around as they snatched the momentum with baskets of their own, along with Royce Alforque’s and-one opportunity to bring down the lead to three, 13-16.

During almost the first five minutes of the second frame, Pre lit the scoreboard to challenge UST with a 24-24 deadlock, but it was still not enough to claim the lead.

Despite Alforque and Aeron Bagunu’s help, the Tamaraws were still behind three at the end of the first half, 29-32.

Tamaraw Pre’s effort in scoring during the start of the second half managed a deadlock again, but Tiger Forthsky Padrigao shut FEU’s door for a chance to lead.

FEU still ended the third quarter rallying behind UST, 43-50.

In the final canto, the Tigers extended the gap to 10, but Pre, Bautista, and Konateh answered with their own successful shots to cut UST’s lead to five.

Unfortunately, the other Tamaraws' contributions were not enough to assume control of the game for FEU.

Pre then shared that some of the senior Tamaraws were not feeling well in today’s game against UST.

“Sobrang dami namin[g] need [i-improve] especially may mga sakit ‘yung mga kuya namin and nag-step up lang kami. Hopefully, next game, maging kumpleto na kami (We need a lot to improve especially now that our older brothers are sick and we just stepped up. Hopefully next game we will be complete),” he stated.

Pasaol was the second leading scorer with nine points while Alforque and Bautista managed to contribute 16 markers combined.

The Chambers-led squad will attempt to return to the winning column to keep their Final Four dreams alive against the University of the East next Sunday, November 3, at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion in Manila City.

(Photo by Karch Rafael/FEU Advocate)