DE LA SALLE University scrambled past Far Eastern University (FEU), 74-72, to return to the win column of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 88 men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Quadricentennial Pavilion.
The Tamaraws had a golden opportunity to tie the game when Jorick Bautista found himself wide open for a baseline layup, but the shooting guard misfired with seven seconds left.
De La Salle burned the remaining time to snatch their second win in three games for solo fourth place in the standings and bounce back from their previous loss to UST.
‘Coming off a loss you really want to win,’ Green Archers deputy coach Caloy Garcia said.
‘We had a part in the game where we’re playing really, really well but in the UAAP, you cannot say that you’re going to have an easy win.’
‘FEU came back in the fourth and we just have to figure out our struggles in the fourth quarter,’ he added.
The Green Archers, who also went through the wringer before beating the Adamson University Soaring Falcons in their season opener, now brace for a showdown with the Ateneo Blue Eagles on Sunday.
FEU trailed 51-64 entering the fourth but clawed back to 69-70 with 2:25 left through Mo Konateh, Janrey Pasaol, Bautista and Jedric Daa.
But Mason Amos and Doy Dungo delivered back-to-back baskets to stretch De La Salle’s lead to 74-69 with 1:32 remaining.
Bautista answered with a clutch triple at the 54.4-second mark to trim it to 72-74, only to miss what would have been the game-tying layup in the dying seconds.
‘I stepped up because the team needs everyone to do so,’ said Dungo, who delivered up in the absence of Kean Baclaan (sprained ankle).
Dungo, a former UST Tiger Cub, showed his comfort inside the Quadricentennial Pavilion by scoring 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting to lead De La Salle.
Amos added 14 points, four assists and three rebounds, while Jacob Cortez also tallied 14 points with four assists and three boards.
EJ Gollena chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds, half of them on the offensive glass, while Mike Phillips, despite being limited to six points on 1-of-7 shooting, anchored the Archers with 13 rebounds and nine assists.
The Tamaraws fell to 0-3 joining idle University of the East at the bottom of the standings.
Pasaol paced FEU with 25 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Konateh contributed a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, Kirby Mongcopa posted 13 points and seven boards and Bautista finished with 10 points.
FEU will try to break into the win column when it faces Adamson University on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.