Streaking Tams near first round sweep, outgun Tigers

MANILA, Philippines -- The FEU Tamaraws moved one win away from sweeping the first round of the UAAP Season 76 men's basketball tournament after an impressive 77-67 victory over the UST Growling Tigers  at the MOA Arena in Pasay Sunday.

Terrence Romeo starred anew, leading the Tamaraws with 19 points while RR Garcia, Mark Belo and Mike Tolomia chipped in 17, 14 and 12 points, respectively, to help FEU stay undefeated in six games.

"Our 6-0 standing does not mean anything. It's just numbers. Right now we just want to sustain our consistency every game," said FEU coach Nash Racela.

"Most important thing for us is to always improve on the little things and focus on getting better in every practice," he added.

FEU stringed together a pivotal 11-3 run in the middle of the payoff period to take a 74-61 lead with 4:35 remaining. Romeo, Garcia and Tolomia accounted for all the points in that crucial stretch.

The Tamaraws clamped down on the Tigers the rest of the way, forcing a bevy of turnovers and took advantage of the absence of UST captain Jeric Teng.

"One thing we appreciate with our players is when they make the extra pass. If we continue to that we will be hard to beat," Racela said, as the Tamaraws took a 20-15 advantage in the assist department.

Karim Abdul muscled his way to 21 points and 11 boards while Kevin Ferrer and Clark Bautista added 18 and 14 points, respectively, for the Tigers, who dropped to 3-2 (win-loss).

FEU took a 39-37 advantage at the break after a nip-and-tuck first half.

Romeo led the Tamaraws with 12 first half points while Abdul carried the load for the Tigers racking up 11 markers.