Far Eastern U held off National U, 62-59, in a gripping defensive battle yesterday to move up to second place in the UAAP Season 74 men’s basketball tournament at the Philsports Arena.
The Tamaraws limited Ray Parks and his NU teammates to just five points in the last period while scoring nine of their own to seize second spot as the Adamson Falcons stopped the Santo Tomas Tigers, 81-71, in the day’s other game.
The Tamaraws struggled with a 4-of-13 shooting in the fourth quarter but escaped with a second straight win on sophomore guard Terrence Romeo’s clutch jumper.
The Tams toughened up on defense to make up for their faltering offense, limiting the Bulldogs to five points in the payoff period.
“We really had a bad fourth quarter, and we had to rely on defense to salvage the game,” said FEU coach Bert Flores.
The main focus of the Tams’ defense, Parks ended up with only 11 points – his least output in a game in the season.
The Bulldogs succumbed to the Tams’ sticky defense and reeled with a third loss against a lone win. – Nelson Beltran