FEU’s Bautista, UST’s Tacatac named UAAP Players of the Week

MANILA, Philippines — FEU Tamaraw Jorick Bautista and UST Growling Tigress Tacky Tacatac provided huge sparks for their streaking teams in the UAAP Season 87 men’s and women’s basketball tournaments the past week. 

Providing fire power for their teams that both went 2-0 for the period of October 12 to 19, Bautista and Tacatac earned nods as the Collegiate Press Corps' (CPC) UAAP Players of the Week presented by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

Bautista bested teammate Mo Konateh in a close vote, La Salle's Kevin Quiambao and Mike Phillips, Ateneo's Andrew Bongo, and UP's Francis Lopez for the weekly recognition backed by Discovery Suites and World Balance as minor sponsors.

The 5-foot-11 guard registered 19.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.5 steals to emerge as the scribes' top choice in the men's tournament.

In a nip-and-tuck battle against Adamson on October 12, Bautista lifted FEU to a 76-72 win as he pumped nine of his 21 points in the extra period.

Bautista's clutch ways didn't stop there as he drilled the dagger trey in the Tamaraws' 65-58 triumph over the NU Bulldogs on October 16 when he finished with 17 points as FEU rose to 3-6, winning back-to-back games and three of its last four, good for fifth place in the standings.

"Sobrang saya po kasi sabi nga ni Royce (Alforque) yung mga hardwork namin kung paano namin ipush yung isa’t isa sa training na ginagawa namin, paunti-unti nang nagbubunga. Sobrang sarap talaga sa feeling na makuha yung panalo," said Bautista, who joined forces Alforque in crunch time to carry the Tamaraws.

Meanwhile, Tacatac used her outside sniping prowess to help lead UST to an 84-57 win over UP on October 13 and a 77-73 win over Ateneo on October 19.

Those two wins gave UST an 8-1 overall record, second best in the tourney.

Tacatac, who edged out teammate Bridgette Santos, NU's Cielo Pagdulagan, FEU's EJ Lopez, and Adamson's Elaine Etang for the weekly citation, shot an impressive 9-of-15 or 60 percent from beyond the arc in the aforementioned games combined where she sparked 17.5 points in just 20.5 minutes per game.

The fifth year guard shot 5-of-7 from downtown and 7-of-13 overall against UP to finish with 23 markers with two steals to boot, and then went 4-of-8 from the three-point area to score 12 against Ateneo plus two rebounds and two assists for good measure.