Tams smother Bombers, firm up hold of 2nd

MANILA, Philippines - Streaking Far Eastern U used one big scoring spurt in the second quarter as it blasted a hapless Jose Rizal U side, 69-52, to firm up its hold of second place in Group B in the Filoil Flying V Pre-Season Hanes Cup at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Terrence Romeo scored the bulk of his 17-point output in the second period where the Tams controlled the boards and outscored the Heavy Bombers, 26-12, to turn a 15-16 first quarter deficit into a 41-28 bulge at the turn. They were never threatened from there and went on to post their fourth straight victory after an opening game loss to league leading National U (7-0).

“Our rebounding improved and we want to improve it more because we’re playing bigger opponents in the UAAP,” said FEU coach Robert Flores, whose wards clobbered the Bombers off the boards, 55-27, in Filipino.

The Bombers fell to No. 4 with a 3-3 card.

Earlier, San Sebastian also kept its win run going, thwarting Lyceum, 78-72, for its third straight triumph after back-to-back losses.

Ian Sangalang and Calvin Abueva combined for 50 points and 30 rebounds but the Stags needed to toughen up at the finish to whisk off the hard-fighting Pirates and sustain their surge in Group B of the tournament presented by Bostik Phils. in cooperation with Total Phils. Corp.

Sangalang hit two crucial shots in the fourth quarter and finished with game-highs 27 points and 18 rebounds while Abueva scored 23 markers, 12 boards, four assists and three blocks.

The Pirates, who dropped to 1-6, tied the count at 61 on a Floricel Guevarra triple with 8:22 left in the contest. But Sangalang strung up two straight baskets to keep the Pirates at bay.

Later in the day, Letran rode on a 14-6 run in the last five minutes as it defeated University of the Philippines, 64-55, to move to solo fourth in Group A with a 3-2 card.

Jam Cortes missed completing a double-double job with 20 points and nine rebounds while Mark Cruz scored 16 markers and four assists for Letran, which also got 17 boards from Raymond Almazan

Letran made only one of 11 treys but converted 22 fastbreak points off 14 turnovers by UP, which fell to 1-5.

 Other backers of the event are major sponsors KIA Motors, TMS Ship Agencies, Vulcaseal, Meralco, NLEX Road Warriors,  Bayo, BDO, Nature’s Spring, Molten and Oxycan.

– With report from Roland Quilente