Scrappy Tamaraws dethrone Archers

MANILA, Philippines - It was a Final Four with similar endgames but contrasting finishes.

Gaining from a big-time triple from Mac Belo off a feed by Mike Tolomia in the dying seconds, the Far Eastern U Tams scored a pulsating 67-64 victory over the La Salle Archers and took the other UAAP finals berth last night at the Big Dome.

The Tams, making their first finals since 2005, will face the National U Bulldogs in an unlikely duel for this year’s diadem.

With 24.4 seconds to plot a winning play, Tolomia took the leather and wasted some time before driving to the basket. With Jason Perkins providing help defense, Tolomia wisely dished it out to an open Belo, who cashed in and swished it home at the buzzer.

“The last play was really designed for Mike. But in the end, he made the most important decision of his basketball career, hindi niya pinilit (he didn’t force it), he saw an open Belo (and passed). We’re so blessed because Mac hit two three-pointers in the last two minutes,” said FEU coach Nash Racela.

“Sabi ni coach sa corner lang ako but after nakita ko si Perkins nag-help kay Mike, sabi ko ipapasa ito sa akin, ayun tsamba (I was instructed to stay in the corner but when I saw Perkins helping out on Mike, I thought I might get the pass. And I was lucky it went in),” said Belo, who paced the Tams with 23 points.

Belo actually had four treys in the night, the third of which restored a 64-61 cushion with 1:05 left. Tolomia added 14 markers plus six assists.

“He (Belo) hit the biggest shot of the ball game. But I think what was commendable was the fact it was another guy who made the pass. Again, it’s a team play…it just so happened Mac was the guy taking it and luckily he made it,” said Racela.

“For a while, we were down by four, akala ko sasabog kami (I thought we would self-destruct) but yeah, the players were really tough tonight,” he added.

With FEU versus NU set in the finale, this will be the first time since the Final Four’s inception that neither Ateneo nor La Salle are involved in the championship series.

“I realized that Ateneo and La Salle are always in the finals since 1993 and I think this was the best thing that ever happened in the UAAP, having FEU and NU in the finals. Just like how we watched it, today, NU could bring the crowd, FEU could bring the crowd, so hindi lang La Salle and Ateneo ang nakakapagdala ng crowd (it’s not just Ateneo or La Salle that can fill the venue),” said Racela.

Jeron Teng (13) and Perkins (12) led DLSU, which saw an end to its reign after one year.

The scores:

FEU 67 – Belo 23, Tolomia 14, Pogoy 8, Hargrove 6, Inigo 5, Cruz 3, Tamsi 3, Jose 3, Ru. Escoto 2, Dennison 0, Lee Yu 0, Ugsang 0, Ri. Escoto 0.

DLSU 64 – Teng 13, Perkins 12, Van Opstal 11, Sargent 8, Rivero 7, N. Torres 7, Vosotros 6, Bolick 0, Montalbo 0, T. Torres 0.

Quarterscores: 24-17, 42-37, 51-47, 67-64