With FEU putting emphasis on shutting down University of the Philippines’ shooters who waxed hot a week ago, the Tamaraws notched a third straight win at the expense of the Fighting Maroons, 78-59, Sunday in UAAP Season 80 basketball tournament at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Ron Dennison finished with 16 points to lead the Tamaraws. But more than his offensive outburst, the Cebuano guard’s tough defense on his former high school teammate, Paul Desiderio, caught the eye of Racela, whose charges improved to 4-2 for solo third behind unbeaten Ateneo (6-0) and La Salle (4-1).
In the second game, Adamson continued its winning ways with a 79-60 demolition of a listless University of the East squad.
The Falcons raced to a double-digit advantage early behind Papi Sarr and Sean Manganti and never looked back as they picked up their third win in five outings.
The win came as the Falcons are preparing for their toughest stretch of the season—againstUP on Wednesday and FEU on Saturday.
“It’s going to be a a brutal week for us, we’ll be playing three games until Saturday,” said Adamson coach Franz Pumaren, who dealt the team of his older brother, Derrick, a fifth straight defeat.
“This can help us in our coming games, especially the game against UP. The last two games will be crucial on our part to end the [first round] above .500.”
A week after exploding for a career-best 30 points in the stunning win over defending champion La Salle, Desiderio was held to just nine points on 4-of-12 shooting. The Maroons hit just four triples, 12 less than in last week’s win.
“It’s huge when you have someone like Ron Dennison who can stop a player like Desiderio,” said Racela in Filipino. “But of course it wasn’t just Dennison against Desiderio, it was the whole FEU team against Desiderio.”
“It was a defensive game for us,” said Racela. “We limited a team below 60 points for the first time this season. The focus was to limit them and I think we caught them on an off-night since most of the shots they were making against La Salle weren’t going in against us.”
It wasn’t until the final period when the Fighting Maroons found their rhythm, closing in at 48-58 thanks to a layup by rookie Juan Gomez de Liano. But Dennison quickly snuffed out the momentum with seven points in a 16-0 run that put away the Maroons.
FIRST GAME: FEU 78 – UP 59
FEU 78—Dennison 16, Escoto 12, Orizu 8, Inigo 7, Parker 7, Comboy 6, Cani 5, Tuffin 4, Ebona 4, Ramirez 4, Tolentino 3, Stockton 2, Trinidad 0, Nunag 0, Bayquin 0.
UP 59—Ouattara 17, Gomez de Liano Ju 16, Desiderio 9, Dario 8, Manzo 4, Lim 3, Webb 2, Gomez de Liano Ja 0, Vito 0, Ricafort 0, Jaboneta 0, Lao 0, Prado 0.
Quarters: 18-14, 40-24, 56-43, 78-59