MANILA, Philippines – Far Eastern University got its act together in time to blow out still winless University of the East, 66-47, in the 74th UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum Thursday.
Last year’s runner up leaned on a second quarter onslaught to overhaul a 2-12 deficit enroute to a rout of the Red Warriors.
FEU coach Bert Flores, who mentored the Tamaraws squad that last won the championship, admitted that his team was still a work in progress after a subpar 2-1 start this season.
“We never get a good start, even in the pre-season,” said Flores. “We’re still disorganized, and it’s a good thing we pick up in the second half.”
After a horrendous start, the Tamaraws also turned to their defense and held UE to its lowest scoring output since the 50-74 loss to Ateneo in 2003.
Chris Exciminiano paced all scorers with 12 points including six straight points in the fourth quarter that gave the Tamaraws their biggest lead, 53-30, with 7:11 left to play.
The Red Warriors, still in search of its first win in three games, meanwhile, ran out of firepower and only scored 16 points in the second and third quarters, paling in comparison to FEU’s 39 point-explosion.
Paul Zamar only finished with two points after topscoring in UE’s last match while John Noble and Adrian Santos punched in 11 and 10 points, respectively.