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FAR Eastern University came up with huge plays in the
final minutes to thwart Adamson University, 74-71, Saturday in the
opener of the 71st University Athletic Association of the
Philippines men’s basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum.
Down by three going into the
final stretch, the sophomore point guard Jens Knuttel provided the
firepower for the Tamaraws as he sank two charities off Jerick
Canada’s foul then unloaded another one from beyond the arc to
take the upper hand, 73-71.
“I want to give him [Knuttel]
credit. Masipag siya sa loob kaya nadadala niya ang mga kasama niya.
Medyo struggling kami ngayon dahil kabado pa ang mga bata.
Hopefully, sa susunod na laban naming mas maging maganda na ang laro
namin [He’s hard-working from the inside that’s why he can carry
his team. We’re struggling right now because the kids are still
nervous. Hopefully, in the next game, our performance will be
better],” said FEU mentor Glenn Capacio.
Knuttel banged in five points,
three rebounds, three assists and a steal while Reil Cervantes
topscored with 15 points and had six rebounds. Mark Barroca and last
year’s Rookie of the Year JR Cawaling chipped in 12 and 10 points
respectively.
“Back to drawing board kami.
Kailangan pa namin ng mas matinding depensa dahil halos lahat ng
teams ngayon ay may tsansa. Every game counts kaya walang puwang sa
amin ang pagre-relax [We need a better defense because every team
has a chance. Every game counts so we have no time to relax.],”
added Capacio.
Michael Galinato paced the
Falcons with game-high 22 points and 11 rebounds but it was not
enough to salvage a win for the San Marcelino-based squad.
Meanwhile, the newest chapter of
the De La Salle University and Ateneo de Manila University rivalry
comes off the wraps on Sunday with NBA star Gilbert Arenas and US
Ambassador Kristie Kenney are expected to grace the game.
The La Salle-Ateneo match is
scheduled at 4 p.m. right after the tussle of this year’s host
University of the Philippines and National University at 2 p.m. The
Green Archers, who are aiming to retain their crown, will rely on
Rico Maierhofer, Bader Malabes, Peejay Barua, James Mangahas, PJ
Walsham, Marco Batricevic and rookies Joshua Webb and LA Revilla.
“In our preseason tournaments,
I’ve seen a lot of areas we need to work on,” said La Salle
coach Franz Pumaren who lost some of his key players including TY
Tang and Cholo Villanueva.
“They are huge losses mainly
because we will miss their leadership and experience, especially in
the backcourt,” Pumaren added.
The Blue Eagles, on the other
hand, will be bannered by guards Chris Tiu, Jai Reyes, Kirk Long and
Eric Salamat, forward Nonoy Baclao and promising recruits Ryan
Buenafe and Nico Salva.
“We still have to work on our
defense,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black.
--Emil Noguera
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