Eight for eight? Tams battle Falcons

MANILA, Philippines—With a perfect record and boasting the league’s best player, Far Eastern University braces for tougher challenges from opponents determined to exact revenge.

 

The Tamaraws aim to stretch their unbeaten run to eight games when they square off against the Adamson Falcons at the start of the second round of the UAAP men’s basketball eliminations Thursday at the Araneta Coliseum.

 

“It’s not over. We have to double our preparation,” said coach Glenn Capacio, whose Tamaraws swept the first round at 7-0 behind the leadership of MVP frontrunner RR Garcia.

 

“We know all the teams are preparing hard for us.”

 

The Tamaraws and the Falcons, sharing second with the Ateneo Blue Eagles at 5-2, clash in the 4 p.m. second game.

 

University of Santo Tomas, running fifth at 3-4, gets going at 2 p.m. against a University of the East side aiming to turn its fortunes around.

 

“We still have to improve on the way we execute our plays and our defense,” said Garcia, the 5-foot-10 FEU guard leading the league in scoring at 17.7 points.

 

But Adamson coach Leo Austria expects a better game from his confident Falcons, who picked up five victories in the first round, the school’s best start since the league adopted the Final Four format in 1994.

 

“I think we have a good future ahead of us if we stick  to our system,” said Austria. “At second place, we’re overachieving.”

 

The Falcons, led by forwards Eric Camson and Alex Nuyles,  hope to avenge their first-round setback against the Tamaraws, 74-65, last Aug. 1.

 

“After reviewing the game against FEU, we realized that our defense collapsed,” said Austria. “But given another chance, I think we’ll have a good game.”

 

Big men Aldrech Ramos and Reil Cervantes are also expected to step up for the Tamaraws, whose last championship came in 2005.

 

The Tigers, meanwhile, hope to recover from back-to-back losses that pushed them down to a share of fifth with the National U Bulldogs.

 

Powered by forward Chris Camus, the Tigers aim to repeat their 80-67 rout of the struggling Warriors in the first round.

 

The Warriors, last year’s runner-up but in near bottom at 1-6, try to halt their alarming skid behind top guard Paul Lee.

 

“We have to get our acts together,” said UE coach Lawrence Chongson. “We still have a long way to go.”