Will the Tamaraws make it this year?

THIS COULD be the year when the Far Eastern University Tamaraws finally regain the UAAP men’s basketball title they last won in 2005.

Blessed with an intact lineup, FEU head coach Glenn Capacio seems on the way to guiding the league-leading Tamaraws to their 20th title in the 73rd edition of the eight-member varsity league. Last year, Capacio’s green-and-gold Tamaraws finished the elimination round with an 11-3 record and went on to reach the finals with a twice-to-beat advantage.

But even with that big edge, FEU could only finish second to the never-say-die Ateneo Blue Eagles, who also won in 2008.

This year, though, FEU exacted revenge by beating Ateneo on the second day of the tournament. “For us in the team, it (would) definitely (be) a failure (if FEU doesn’t win the title this time),” Capacio told sportswriters shortly before the league started. “It would be a fitting sendoff for me as well since this is my last year as Tamaraws head coach. And I hope I can bring  the championship back to FEU before I leave.” On his current winning streak, Capacio said: “We just don’t rely on one player to score the needed points. We have about six to eight players who can deliver.”

He added that the Tamaraws “have also thoroughly prepared for our opponents’ pressure defense.”

* * * Pundits describe FEU as the most complete team in this year’s competition. Rookie Terence Romeo, who tallied 21 points in FEU’s 94-70 mauling of University of the Philippines two Sundays ago, completely caught the UP Maroons off guard. The 5-foot-11 Romeo is best remembered as the Baby Tam who set a junior league record by scoring 83 points in a game last year. On the other hand, old reliable RR Garcia drilled a game-high 18 points to help the Tams nose out a young but fighting La Salle Green Archers, 84-80, in double overtime last July 29. Carl Bryan Cruz, a recruit from Metro Manila College, and old hand Pipo Noundou, provided support by scoring 16 and 14 points, respectively. FEU has a potent four-man rotation, with Aldrech Ramos, the MVP runner-up last year; Riel Cervantes, new recruit Mark Bringas and Noundou dominating the boards. This, of course, is welcome news to shooters like Garcia, Romeo and JR Cawaling. * * * Over time, FEU has produced some of the country’s outstanding athletes. With its well-rounded sports program, the school’s gritty athletes left large footprints on international, regional and national tournaments. Tennis players Felicisimo “Totoy” Ampon, Cesar Carmona and Raymundo Deyro dominated the Asian Zone Davis Cup series. Other FEU bets shone in amateur boxing, weightlifting, baseball, swimming and athletics. With Celestino “Aling” Enriquez as boxing coach, FEU produced featherweight hero Anthony Villanueva, who gave the country its first silver medal in the Olympics during the 1964 Tokyo Games. Weightlifting contributed 1952 Helsinki Olympians featherweight Rodrigo del Rosario and bantamweight Pedro Landero, who placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in their divisions. Swimming produced Asian freestyle queen Haydee Coloso-Espino and the fabulous Lozada clan led by sisters Gertrudes, Corazon and Teresita, and Agapito “Pete” and Remberto Lozada. In baseball, standouts included Ireneo Diaz, Napoleon Santos, Rodolfo Lugay, Manuel Mariquit and Ernesto Adorable. In athletics, the more popular FEU products were sprinter Mona Sulaiman, long jumper Elma Muros-Posadas and Lydia de Vega-Mercado, Asia’s fastest woman in the 1980s.