MANILA, Philippines—Far Eastern University collared a coveted final-four berth after disposing of University of the East, 78-69, in the first game Sunday of the 74th UAAP men’s basketball tournament.
The Tamaraws left no stones unturned in gaining the semis stint and keeping the redemption bid alive as the one-two punch of Ryan Garcia and Terrence Romeo sprinkled 21 points apiece across an overall dominant game.
“I told them that, we’re already here and we have the opportunity [to make it the final four]. Let’s take it, and we did,” said Bert Flores, as FEU comes within a step behind second-running Adamson University.
Start center Aldrech Ramos also showcased flashes of dominance—but from beyond the arc as by nailing two-of-three, back-to-back in the fourth quarter, which boosted FEU to a 64-49 lead, for a 13-point finish.
Garcia, last season’s MVP, also blistered from downtown with four three pointers as he followed up Ramos’ binge with two of his own for a 70-55 advantage with a little over five minutes left, which virtually foiled any chances of a turnaround by UE.
“Our bigs and our guards did a good job today,” added Flores.
FEU (8-4), which now has a fair shot at number two after the Falcons’ (9-4) stunning loss to UST (7-5) Saturday, led by as many as 17 points on a trey by rookie Cris Tolomia, 54-37.
The Tamaraws cashed on a huge first-quarter performance jumpstarted by Romeo and Garcia with their starters just simply overmatching UE’s main stringers, 59-19.
The Warriors, failing to snap a losing skid which extended to four, though, did not go down without resistance by not giving up on the attack and trimming the lead down to nine several times in the playoff period, including the final score.
Five red shirts scored in double digits with Paul Zamar and John Sumido scoring 12 points each but it wasn’t enough to pose a solid threat against the raging Tamaraws.