Banged up inside and held to just a three-pointer in the first half, the Tamaraws came alive at resumption of the contest, draining seven triples, including three in the fourth quarter that thwarted the Maroons’ rally. Ganged up inside by UP’s big men, Arwind Santos bled for his 12 points but hit a clutch triple down the stretch that sealed FEU’s ninth win in 10 outings and the first berth in the semifinals.
"Maganda ang depensa ng UP lalo na sa ilalim, hirap nga si Mark (Isip) at Arwind," said FEU coach Roger Flores. "Kaya sabi ko be ready sila sa labas para tumira."
The Tams responded from behind the arc where they went eight-of-23, including four in the third quarter and three in the final period.
One stretch saw FEU shatter a 44-all count and into a 54-44 lead on back-to-back triples by Eder Saldua, who had nine points in a 70-69 win over La Salle last week.
The biggest treys came midway in the last quarter when Santos, Jonas Villanueva and Jeff Chan hit one apiece in that stretch as the Tams inflicted the Maroons their sixth loss against five triumphs.
Victor Epres, who hasn’t made a single triple this season, made one in an 8-0 blitz late in the first quarter as the Maroons turned a 4-11 deficit to a 12-11 advantage.
With its starters struggling, FEU found relief from its bench as it regained momentum and 22-16 lead midway in the second canto.
UP struck back again as Cruz spearheaded a heated 9-4 exchange to go into the break with the count deadlocked at 26-all.
Earlier, defending champion La Salle went on a scoring rampage in the second quarter and went on to crush National U, 78-54, and firm up its place inside the magic four with a 6-4 card.
The prolific duo of Joseph Yeo and JV Casio came through with 16 and 13 points, respectively, as the Archers broke away from a close 14-10 lead in the first quarter to a 40-22 bulge at the turn en route to handing the Bulldogs their 10th straight loss.
Edwin Asoro unleashed another solid performance for NU with 24 points, eight rebounds and two shot blocks but failed to draw support from the rest with none scoring seven points or more.
With Asoro on the firing end, the Bulldogs stuck close to the Archers, trailing by just three points early in the second period, 16-13.
But the Archers pounded the Bulldogs with a sleek running game anchored on their vaunted full-court pressure as they took a 62-39 lead at the end of the third.
Compounding the Bulldogs’ woes was the sidelining of top gun Jonathan Fernandez who sustained an injury in the first half.