Tamaraws ride Xyrus Torres’ hot hands to finally find their mark

MANILA, Philippines—Far Eastern University was coming off its worst shooting performance in the UAAP Season 82 men’s basketball tournament and wingman Xyrus Torres was determined not to let it happen again.

The Tamaraws shot an abysmal 19 percent, going 15-of-79, from the field in their 61-39 loss to National University on Wednesday but had a quick turnaround against Adamson.

Riding Torres’ marksmanship, FEU converted on 40 percent of its shots, 26-of-65, to take down the Soaring Falcons, 83-71, Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.

Torres finished with 21 points on 5-of-12 shooting from deep.

“We had a bad shooting percentage against NU and I know we also have to help our seniors and our teammates,” said the rookie Torres in Filipino. “We moved on from what happened and we showed in practice what can we do against Adamson.”

Torres wasn’t just putting points in bunches but he was also doing his scoring in the crucial moments for FEU.

It was during the Tamaraws’ 13-2 game-changing run in the third quarter that Torres drilled two straight three-pointers that put FEU up 66-52.

LJ Gonzales then capped off the run with a layup to give the Tamaraws a 68-52 lead.

“We focused on our training and we have to transition what we do in training to our games,” said Torres. “We can’t relax one bit.”