MANILA, Philippines -- Far Eastern U detonated a lethal 20-0 bomb in the third quarter to set the foundation to a 93-75 rout of La Salle and get back on track in the UAAP Season 78 men’s basketball tourney Sunday at the MOA Arena.
The Tams hit four of their 14 treys in the last five minutes of the penultimate period to rip the game open and cruise to the "bounce-back" win following their 71-72 setback to unbeaten University of Santo Tomas last week.
“Coming from the loss to UST, I didn’t know how they’ll react. But it was very positive today, they played as a team and they were ready for the challenge,” said FEU coach Nash Racela.
The Tams improved to 2-1, notching another victory in lopsided fashion. FEU’s previous triumph was an 88-64 demolition of Ateneo on opening weekend.
"(The two routs) doesn’t mean anything. It’s the same question we got after the first win and right after that we lost to UST,” said Racela, who considered the season “unpredictable.”
FEU outscored DLSU 32-11 in the fateful third.
“We’ve always emphasized defense to the team. It was there in the first game (win over Ateneo) but was gone the next (loss to UST). We just brought the focus back on defense today,” said Racela.
Mike Tolomia fired 20 points spiked by three triples and issued five assists while Mac Belo added 17.
FEU spoiled the 29-point, 10-rebound performance of Jeron Teng for DLSU, which plummeted to its second straight setback after hurdling its opening assignment last week.
Although Teng exploded, FEU was successful in clamping down on Jason Perkins, who coughed up five in a 2-of-8 clip from the floor.
The Scores:
FEU 93 – Tolomia 20, Belo 17, Orizu 12, Pogoy 8, Inigo 6, Jose 6, Tamsi 6, Trinidad 6, Ru. Escoto 5, Arong 3, Comvoy 3, Holmqvist 1, Ebona 0, Ri. Escoto 0.
DLSU 75 – Teng 29, Caracut 13, Sargent 11, Rivero 8, Perkins 5, Muyang 3, Navarro 3, Torralba 2, Go 1, Langston 0, Torres 0, Trater 0.
Quarterscores: 24-25, 45-43, 77-54, 93-75.