FEU coach Nash Racela. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
It may have been a failed comeback for Far Eastern University, but Tamaraws head coach Olsen Racela still saw positives out of their 95-90 loss to De La Salle in the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament.
FEU faced a 37-14 deficit in the second quarter but the Tamaraws managed to make things interesting down the stretch, pulling to within five, 90-85, with a minute left.
“Of course, as a coach you’ll always look at the positive, the second half was the positive thing for us,” said Racela Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena. “And if we played that way from the start, the result could’ve been better for us.”
FEU outscored La Salle, 36-22, in the fourth quarter but fortunately for the Green Archers, they built a lead big enough to withstand the Tamaraws’ late charge.
Racela, despite remaining optimistic after their opening game loss, owned up to his team’s defeat.
“Maybe I didn’t prepare them well enough, this is on me,” said Racela.
“This shows where we are right now, we’re far from Final Four contention. We lost a game against the defending champions who played without their MVP,” he added, referring to Ben Mbala, who is representing his country Cameroon in the 2017 Fiba Afrobasket in Tunisia.