Tams duel Doves; Blue Eagles take on Stags

Far Eastern University, the reigning UAAP king, stamped its class over NCAA champion Letran, 68-54, yesterday in Big Eight action of the Champions’ League at the Adamson gym.

With the win, FEU set up a Final Four clash with top favorite St. Francis of Assisi, a rematch of last year’s Big Eight where the Tamaraws stunned the Doves.

Ateneo likewise advanced to the semis with an 86-81 victory over Holy Cross of Davao. The Eagles dispute the final berth against the San Sebastian Stags.

So dominant were the Tamaraws that the closest the Knights could get was at 14-22, at the end of first quarter.

"I think we caught them in an off-day," said winning coach Koy Banal.

The Tamaraws scored the game’s first eight points and raced to a 15-2 lead on a three-pointer by Arwind Santos in the initial frame.

Santos, the reed-thin FEU forward, had his second straight double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds while sitting out the entire fourth period.

The UAAP Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year had actually reached the mark in the first half with 13 and 10.

He took just a single shot in the third and missed, but his teammates continued the rampage.

Mark Isip paced the Tamaraws with 17 points, scattered in four quarters. Seldom-used Jefrei Chan also made good account of himself with 10, his triple late in the game giving FEU its biggest lead at 68-40.

Dale Santos pumped in seven points in a closing 14-0 blitz by the Knights to trim the gap to a respectable level.

Ronjay Enrile led the Knights with 13 points, all coming in the first half. No other Knight scored in twin figures.

Letran’s loss left San Sebastian as the only NCAA team in the running.

The last of Final Four aspirants—Ateneo and Holy Cross of Davao—are playing as of press time with the winner facing the waiting Stags.