INQUIRER Sports

GAME TODAY (Araneta Coliseum)
3:30 p.m.?*Ateneo vs UST
*Owns twice-to-beat advantage

MANILA, Philippines ? A controversial star player put Far Eastern University on the spotlight for days before Paul Lee swung the attention to University of the East with a spectacular performance Saturday at the start of the UAAP Final Four showdown at the Araneta Coliseum.

With Lee providing the energy and spark in the closing minutes, the Warriors hacked out an emphatic 84-74 triumph over the Tamaraws and forged a semifinal rubber match with their victims, who played minus ace guard Mark Barroca as expected.

Shooting from almost every angle, Lee buried 14 points ? including four triples ? to cap the Warriors? 16-5 closing salvo from a 68-69 deficit.

Lee, one of the craftiest guards in the league, finished with a game-high 26 points on top of eight rebounds and seven assists. His six triples for the game also surpassed the five treys made by La Salle?s Joseph Yeo in the 2003 Final Four.

?I?ve seen those shots time and time again from him. It just came at a special time,? said UE coach Lawrence Chongson. ?We?ve been playing the same way since the PBL, since we went to Las Vegas, but people just always find ways to frown on what we?re doing ?that we have no system, that it?s free-flowing and so on. But now after seven straight wins, it shows we have a good system.?

The third-ranked Warriors hope to overcome the second-seeded Tamaraws? twice-to-beat advantage in their do-or-die showdown on Thursday.

?His absence is a big loss,? said FEU coach Glenn Capacio of Barroca. ?We also lost Jens Knuttel [due to a hamstring injury], so we really had a problem with our guard rotation.?

FEU decided to play minus the controversial Barroca ?with the objective of improving team chemistry,? according to a school statement released before the game said.

UAAP president and FEU team manager Anton Montinola and FEU athletic director Mark Molina later confirmed that Barroca was dropped from the team for good. The 5-foot-10 guard had one year of eligibility left.

?The basis of the decision is that it was the considered opinion of the coaching staff and all the players that team chemistry was not at its optimum,? said Montinola. ?So we had to do something. That?s the coaches? prerogative. [The management] supported the decision.?

Montinola said the team cited the dipping performance of Barroca ? who led the Tamaraws in points (12.7 points per game), assists (2.7 apg) and steals (1.6 spg) ? during ?a series of meetings.?

Barroca, a strong candidate for the Smart Gilas national team being formed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, scored only 15 points in FEU?s last two games ? seven in an overtime win against La Salle and eight in a recent loss to Ateneo.

?It has been a very difficult week for everybody,? said Montinola. ?I talked to [Barroca] a lot and he had time to be alone and reflect, and he really was in the chapel.?

The Tamaraws arrived at the Big Dome under tight security. Two security guards even kept watch outside the dugout as the team huddled before the game and at halftime.

The scores:
UE 84?Lee 26, Llagas 19, Acuña 17, Espiritu 8, Reyes 6, Lingganay 4, Ayala 3, Tagarda 1, Zamar 0, Acibar 0.
FEU 74?Sanga 22, Garcia 16, Ramos 12, Cervantes 8, Noundou 5, Cawaling 5, Manalo 4, Knuttel 2, Eguilos 0, Caluag 0.
Quarters: 25-18, 37-38, 62-55, 84-74