By Angel Joyce C. Basa

Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws Veejay Pre and Janrey Pasaol’s combined forces fell short to clinch their second win, 72-83, against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers to conclude the first round eliminations of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 men's basketball tourney earlier today, October 5, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

The Tam rookies pitched in a total of 27 points with Pre chipping 14 and seven rebounds, while Pasaol topped it off with 13 and three assists.

During a post-game interview with head coach Sean Chambers, he talked about utilizing six rookies in today's game as preparation for the second half of the tournament.

“We're trying to extend our bench, we're trying to find out what other young kids that can play right now, so we're just trying to figure it out still, but it's time for our other kids to help kind of extend our rotation,” he said.

Earlier in the match, the green-and-gold cagers took a tough beating from the Growling Tigers’ defensive line in the first quarter.

UST got an early lead with Christian Manaytay and Gelo Crisostomo steering the offense with consecutive points and an early three by Forthsky Padrigao, 15-19.

The lead extended to 12 in the second frame before the Tams took charge and caught up with the Tigers from Pasaol’s trey followed by another two-pointer to cut the chase by the end of the first half, 32-34.

FEU carried hope in the third quarter with more field goal attempts, Pre’s five-point contribution, and Jedric Daa’s additional four markers.

However, the Morayta-based squad's run was cut off at the start of the fourth canto with another loose advantage coming off of the España-based team's side to claim the win with an 11-point edge, 72-83.

With an addition of another loss to their record, senior Jorick Bautista looks onto growing the maturity of the team after the round one conclusion.

“Siguro ‘yung maturity sa loob ng court which is pagdating ng mga endgame mas kailangan naming mabuo pa, mas gawin naming ‘yung sistema ni coach Sean (I guess we need to have more maturity inside the court which is what we need during endgames, we have to execute coach Sean’s system better),” he stated.

Bautista scored 17 points with a 50-percent shooting from the field while foreign student-athlete Mo Konateh had a double-double of 10 markers and 11 rebounds for the green-and-gold side.

The Sean Chambers-led squad ended the round with a 1-6 win-loss record at the bottom of the leaderboard and will try to bounce back in the second round commencing after a one-week break.

(Photo by Zedrich Xylak Madrid/FEU Advocate)