MANILA, Philippines (Updated 7:02 p.m.) — Carl Tamayo took over late anew for the UP Fighting Maroons as they stayed perfect at the expense of the FEU Tamaraws, 73-67, in UAAP Season 85 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.
As the Tamaraws erased a hot start by the Maroons where UP led by as much as 14 in the opening salvo, 20-6, Tamayo scored eight of the Maroons' 16 points in the fourth quarter to help his team improve to 3-0.
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Tamayo hit a baseline jumper to push their lead to five, 70-65, with 2:05 ticks left on the clock. FEU had entered the fourth frame leading by three, 60-57.
Though an unsportsmanlike foul called on Harold Alarcon drawn by Ljay Gonzales on an and-one opportunity opened the door wide open for the Morayta squad, Gonzales ended up missing the bonus to bail UP out.
The Maroons then forced the stop to keep their lead at three, 70-67.
Terrence Fortea then drew a foul on Jorck Bautista and knocked down both freebies to make it a two-possession lead for the Fighting Maroons with 28.2 left, 72-67.
Tamayo then split his free throws late in the game to arrive at the final score.
Tamayo finished with 16 points, six rebounds, three assists, and one steal.
Fortea, meanwhile, scored a career-high 17 points on perfect 5-of-5 shooting from three point land. Fortea also had four rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Despite the perfect record, UP has been struggling to dominate their opponents. Assistant coach Christian Luanzon believes the team leaves much to be desired in terms of playing hard all 40 minutes of the game.
"We got what we wanted, compared to the last two games, starting out strong. But we were not able to sustain it. So, this is one thing that Coach Gold [Monteverde] always preaches, yung consistency of all four quarters." said Luanzon.
For FEU, it was Ximone Sandagon who paced the Morayta squad's efforts with 20 points on a perfect 8-of-8 shooting. Sandagon also had seven rebounds, one steal, and one block off of the bench.
The Tamaraws slumps to 0-3 and remains the only winless team in the league this season.
UP faces NU next while the FEU Tamaraws continue to seek for their first win against the Adamson Soaring Falcons on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Scores:
UP 73 -- Fortea 17, Tamayo 16, Diouf 11, Lucero 10, Alarcon 8, Abadiano 7, Eusebio 2, Calimag 1, Torculas 1, Spencer 0, Ramos 0, Lina 0.
FEU 67 -- Sandagon 20, Sleat 11, Gonzales 11, Anonuevo 9, Bautista 7, Torres 5, Alforque 2, Celzo 2, Tempra 0, Tchuente 0, Guibao 0.
Quarters: 10-23, 41-42, 57-60, 73-67.