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By Emil Noguera, Correspondent
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY survived Adamson University’s
last minute rally to escape with a 72-69 win in the 70th University
Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball
tournament Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum.
The victory was the fifth for the Tamaraws, who
joined defending champion University of Santo Tomas and De La Salle
University in second spot with a 5-3 win-loss card.
UST, led by Kasim Mirza who finished with 16
points, improved its record Thursday after posting an 81-73 overtime
win over La Salle.
Unbeaten University of the East (7-0) and Ateneo
de Manila (4-3) were still playing at press time.
“Ganun talaga ang bagitong team, pagdating sa
crunch time medyo ninenerbiyos. Pero magandang experience ito dahil
dyan sila matututo sa ganyang pressure ng game,” said FEU rookie
mentor Glenn Capacio.
Paul Sanga bannered the Tamaraws with 15 points
and six rebounds while Benedict Fernandez added 12 markers. Marnel
Baracael, Mark Barroca and Aldrech Ramos combined for 25 points.
The Adamson Falcons, on the other hand, absorbed
their seventh loss against one win after league topscorer Patrick
Cabahug was limited to 16 points.
Roel Hugnatan came up with a brilliant
performance, scoring a game-high 24 points and hauling down 10
rebounds for Adamson, which is in solo fifth.
“Although marami kaming naibigay na offensive
rebounds sa kanila, we are happy na na-limit namin ang production ni
Cabahug. Maganda ang naging depensa namin,” Capacio added.
The Tamaraws took a 69-61 advantage going into
the final three minutes, before the Falcons held an 8-2 run capped
by Hugnatan’s back-to-back baskets to reduce the gap to only two
points, 71-69, less than a minute left.
After trailing 18-22 at the end of the first
quarter, FEU held a fiery run to tie the count at halftime, 38-38.
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