Tams gun for 4th win in row

MANILA, Philippines - Far Eastern University (FEU) seeks to firm up its hold of Group B lead as it battles Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) today in the 2011 Filoil Flying V Hanes Pre-season Premier Cup at The Arena in San Juan City.

The Tams eye their fourth straight win at 12:30 p.m. against an EAC Generals crew (1-1) that’s looking to gain momentum from their 49-46 squeaker over University of the East last Saturday.

Although spotless in the tourney so far, FEU coach Bert Flores said the Tams remain far from reaching peak form.

“We’re still in disarray on the court in some occasions plus we have the tendency to relax and play individual when we’re up by a big margin. We have to work on these,” Flores said.

FEU’s big men will have to work overtime once more as Aldrech Ramos, who suffered a sprain in the Tams’ 77-65 rout of Mapua, will sit out the game against EAC.

“He’s okay but we’re letting him take a rest, having been weary from his stint with Gilas (national team). It will be a bigger problem for us if he gets injured come the UAAP,” Flores said.

Another unbeaten team, National University (3-0), also seeks to keep its win run for the solo lead in Group A as it clashes with winless Lyceum of the Philippines University (0-2) at 2:15 p.m.

In spite of the three won games, Bulldogs coach Eric Altamirano said his young wards still have a lot of work cut out for them.

“It’s really hard to gauge where we are right now because we’re not yet complete and some of our boys are still hurting,” said Altamirano, whose team is missing Emmanuel Mbe (abroad attending to personal matters) and whose veterans Joseph Terso and Glenn Khobuntin are coming off injuries.

“We’re still on the learning process. We’re trying to focus on our game and the things to do and we’re not really trying to prepare for a particular team. What’s important is whatever flaws we notice, we try to correct them, like in our game against Arellano, we had a hard time against their zone, so we have to improve on our zone offense and improve our shooting,” he stated.

Jose Rizal U (1-1) and College of St. Benilde (0-1) face off at 4 p.m. with the Bombers looking for a followup to their 70-65 win over Letran and the Blazers hoping to land in the win column.

The tournament is presented by Pioneer Mighty Bond Xtreme and Elastoseal with major sponsors Filoil Flying V, Total Phils., Gerry’s Grill, BDO, Oxycan, Bayo, Cobra Energy Drink, TMS Ship Agencies, San Marino Corned Tuna and Molten.