Tamaraws hoping for turnaround next season

Their glowing start came to a gloomy end.

Although Far Eastern University improved on last season’s fifth-place finish, the sputtering finish, capped by back-to-back losses to La Salle in their Final Four duel, will long haunt the Tamaraws.

“I told them our group is destined for greatness,” said FEU coach Nash Racela. “We can achieve big things but ang pumipigil, tayo (we’re the ones holding ourselves back). I know it’s a process.”

The Tamaraws pulled off a surprise 7-0 sweep of the first round, but faltered in the second with only three wins to show against already eliminated teams in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament.

Still, the Tamaraws made it to the Final Four and even gained a shot at the No. 2 spot and the twice-to-beat bonus, which they lost to La Salle in a playoff.

Last Wednesday, the Tamaraws again came close to forging a do-or-die match for a championship berth versus the Archers as they controlled the semifinal duel most of the way.

But the Archers showed more poise late in the game, rallying from a double-digit deficit to trip the Tamaraws, 71-68, and clinch the first title slot.

As a squad that has produced some of the best players in the land, the Tamaraws have been falling short in the big dance in recent years.

Racela, though, opted to look at the overall picture with optimism.

“We didn’t get the outcome that we wanted, but we’re still happy,” said Racela after wrapping up his first-year stint with the Tamaraws.

“At the start of the season, no one talked about us. Some even ranked us at sixth or seventh. We weren’t proving everybody wrong, but we took it as a challenge.”

The Tamaraws aim to come out stronger next year despite the graduation of star guard RR Garcia.