Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Monbert Arong drilled in the jumper to lift Far Eastern University to a thrilling 57-56 victory over National University Sunday in the UAAP Season 79 men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Cebuano guard pump-faked Alfred Aroga and buried the go-ahead jumper to give the Tamaraws the marginal basket with 3.7 seconds to spare.
Aroga could not respond on the other end at the buzzer as FEU rolled on to its fifth straight win.
“Monbert was playing hurt today with his ankle. We’re managing his minutes kaya di sya nag-starting five. He was struggling today. Buti na lang nagkaroon pa sya ng lakas for the last play,” said FEU coach Nash Racela.
Arong fired seven of his 13 points in the fourth quarter, on top of his two rebounds and two assists.
Raymar Jose topped the Tamaraws with a double-double of 14 markers and 12 rebounds.
FEU had to recover from NU’s sizzling 11-0 start and fight back from a 48-38 deficit in the third before finally getting back in the game with a 12-2 spurt abridging the final two frames to tie the game at 50 with 7:24 left to play.
Both teams also struggled to get any rhythm thanks to their combined 46 turnovers, but the Tamaraws took advantage of the Bulldogs misfiring from the charity stripe, going 2-of-6 in the final three minutes.
Aroga paced NU (4-3) with 22 points and 13 rebounds, but committed seven turnovers in the loss.
The scores:
FEU 57 – Jose 14, Arong 13, Comboy 7, Trinidad 6, Escoto 5, Dennison 4, Holmqvist 3, Denila 2, Ebona 2, Orizu 1, Tuffin 0, Bayquin 0, Roxas 0.
NU 56 – Aroga 22, R. Diputado 8, Alejandro 7, Gallego 6, Sinclair 5, Morido 2, Pate 2, Go 2, Salim 1, Rangel 1, Salem 0, C. Diputado 0, Mosqueda 0, Yu 0.
Quarters: 19-19, 30-32, 45-50, 57-56/rga