Surgin’ Tams...
Daquioag, who coughed up four markers on a 1-of-7 shooting.
Racela turned to a wide cast of heroes – from double-digit scorers Roger Pogoy (15), Mike Tolomia (14), Mac Belo (13 points, 13 rebounds), Russel Escoto (12) and Price Orizu (10 markers, nine boards) to defensive specialist Ron Dennison and workhorse Raymar Jose – in drawing first blood against the top-seeded UST before a crowd of 18,450.
Only Karim Abdul (19 in 36 minutes) and Kevin Ferrer (15 in 33 minutes) finished in twin figures for UST, whose key players seemed drained from playing heavy minutes during the final push.
FEU actually raced to a 14-point spread but allowed UST to claw back and even take a 62-61 lead on a bucket by Louie Vigil less than six minutes left.
Racela then sued for time to regroup and his wards responded with a 14-2 counter assault, completing the mopping up operations by relentlessly crashing the board and forcing the dog-tired Tigers to lose possession.
“More than the fatigue factor, it was the consecutive stops made by these players. They made a couple of interceptions which resulted in layups and that took the fight out of them (UST),” said Racela.
FEU made a killing in rebounding, 56-32, enjoying a whopping 22-11 margin on the offensive glass.
With a 1-0 lead in the series, the Tams are on the threshold of their first title since 2005 and 20th overall.
Racela said they’re looking at the situation with caution, remembering the fate that befell them last year when they jumped the gun on National U only to lose Games 2 and 3 to settle for runner-up honors.
“I think we learned our lesson from last year’s finals. It’s a good reminder for us to be humble and continue to work to correct things so that we’ll get another win,” said Racela. The scores: FEU 75 – Pogoy 15, Tolomia 14, Belo 13, Ru Escoto 12, Orizu 4, Tamsi 5, Jose 4, Arong 2, Dennison 0, Ri. Escoto 0, Inigo 0.
UST 64 – Abdul 19, Ferrer 15, Vigil 8, Bonleon 6, Sheriff 6, Lee 6, Daquioag 4, Faundo 0, Lao 0.
Quarterscores: 28-24, 47-34, 57-51, 75-64