Tams earn playoff for ‘twice-to-beat’

Far Eastern University flirted with disaster and had to lean on lucky breaks down the stretch to nip Santo Tomas, 64-63, yesterday and clinch at least a playoff for a twice-to-beat edge in the Final Four of the 68th UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the Blue Eagle Gym.

Jeff Chan paced the Tams with 14 points but it was Mark Isip who came through with a clutch putback in the last 55 seconds of the contest to lift the Tams to that scrambling victory in a game they were heavily favored to win.

The triumph was the Tams’ 11th against a lone setback with the 2003 champions hoping to formalize their claim on a semifinal incentive with another win either against Ateneo or National U.

"Just one more win," said FEU coach Bert Flores in Filipino.

Allan Evangelista actually had a chance to preserve the win for the Tigers but his desperation jumper with two seconds to go bounced off the rim as the Espana-based cagers absorbed their ninth loss against four wins.

Earlier, the Eagles continued to grope for form but played good enough to beat National U, 70-65.

Doug Kramer fired 13 points and had 11 rebounds while Macky Escalona and sophomore Ken Barracoso tossed in 12 and 11 points, respectively, to power the Eagles to their ninth win against three losses.

"We played bad again but I’m happy we got out of this gym with a win," said Ateneo coach Norman Black.