Tams bounce back, trample Maroons

MANILA, Philippines – Far Eastern U shifted to high gear in the third period to run away with an 85-71 dispatching of University of the Philippines and get back on the winning track in the UAAP Season 77 men's basketball tourney at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Tams choked the Maroons to measly one-of-16 shooting on the floor (six percent) in the fateful third to rip the game apart and set the tone for their second win in three outings, a feel-good victory after their 67-69 loss to Santo Tomas last week.

"We treated this game as a very important one, especially coming off a loss," said FEU coach Nash Racela. "I think the previous loss gave us a lot of lessons and those were the things we tried to work on the past days."

Cranking it up on defense, the Tams allowed only one field goal for UP and eight points in the penultimate stanza and displaying a fluid team game on offense, they raced ahead to  a 70-46 tear.

"I always talk about the inconsistency of the team. We could be very good at times, we could be very bad at times. That third quarter (showing), that's how our game should be played - no forced shots, getting the team game going," said Racela, whose wards led by as many as 26 points ,at 78-52.

In a balanced assault, five FEU stalwarts scored in double figures, led by Mike Tolomia with 18. Complementing Tolomia, who also issued three assists, were Mac Belo (12), Roger Pogoy (11), Carl Cruz (11) and Anthony Hargrove (10).

JR Gallarza waxed hot with 14 points in the first 20 minutes, helping the UP Maroons stay in the game, but coughed up only four in a sputtering second half, as Dave Moralde added 14 and Kyles Lao chipped in 10.

The Fighting Maroons dropped to 0-4, their harrowing losing streak extended to 25 games dating back to 2012.