Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Far Eastern University remained spotless in the Filoil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup after scoring an 88-77 win over UAAP rival National University, 88-77, Friday at the tournament’s namesake arena in San Juan.
The Tamaraws improved to 3-0 and stayed atop Group B while the Bulldogs absorbed their second loss against three wins.
FEU head coach Olsen Racela said their game against the Bulldogs was an opportunity to see how his team is prepared to play in its mother league this early in the preseason.
“Every time we play a UAAP team that’s a chance to gauge where we are right now,” said Racela. “And I told them that whenever an opposing team makes a run, to just be ready, and I’m glad they were able to turn things around.”
FEU had a comfortable 81-71 lead late in the fourth quarter but NU employed a full-court press and it allowed to Bulldogs to go on a 6-0 run and cut the lead to 81-77.
The Tamaraws, though, would retaliate and mounted their own 7-0 game-closing run with Ken Tuffin scoring his lone field goal in the game off a corner triple to cap the it all off with seconds to spare.
RJ Ramirez led FEU with 15 points, five assists, and two steals while Ron Dennison and Arvin Tolentino added a dozen points apiece.
Issa Gaye had 14 points and nine rebounds to lead NU.