Tamaraws surprise cellar dwellers, battle Bulldogs

For a team that won two UAAP titles the last three seasons, the cellar is indeed a very unfamiliar place for Far Eastern University.

But that’s where the Tams are after dropping their first two games with the defending champions raring to bounce back against the National U Bulldogs at today’s resumption of the 69th UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

"We’re surprised ourselves," said FEU coach Bert Flores. "But despite what’s happening to us, I keep telling my players to remain positive and keep on fighting."

The Tams, who lost the likes of Arwind Santos and Mark Isip to graduation, bowed to the University of the East Warriors, 84-92, in overtime last week and then lost to the Santo Tomas Tigers, 87-90, last Thursday.

"We really missed Santos and company but we know we can also win even without them," said Flores, who is expected to pin his hopes on Jonas Villanueva and Jeff Chan along with rookies Alfredo Gerilla and Marnel Baracael.

NU also dropped its first two games — to the Ateneo Eagles 70-75, and the Adamson Falcons, 64-88. Unlike the Tams, however, the Bulldogs are in a familiar spot, having been the league’s cellar dweller for years.

Worse, they would be missing Jonathan Fernandez, Edwin Asoro and Howard Flor, who all sustained injuries during the game against the Eagles.

Fernandez and Asoro are the Bulldogs’ top scorers while Flor is a force to reckon with inside the paint.

"We’re playing hurt right now, we just have to make do with what we have," said NU mentor Manny Dandan, who steered the school to its first ever semis appearance six years ago since the Final Four format was introduced.

The FEU-NU encounter, set at 4 p.m., is the lone seniors game on tap in the four-game bill with UP and NU kicking off the juniors hostilities at 9 a.m. followed by the matches between FEU against UST and Ateneo vs UE.