FEU’s Romeo willing to sacrifice individual play for team success

MANILA, Philippines -- Far Eastern University's Terrence Romeo has his team in mind even as he leads the early MVP race in the UAAP men's basketball tournament.

Aside from consistently delivering the numbers in the Tamaraws' perfect run, Romeo has also been drawing attention for his much improved game attitude.

“Sinabi ko sa teammates ko na di na ako maghahangad ng kahit anong award, basta manalo lang at mag-champion tayo. As long as makita ko yung improvement sa FEU, masaya na ako (I told my teammates that I’m not pursuing any individual award, as long as we win the championship. As long as I see improvement on FEU’s part, I’ll be contented),” said Romeo.

Romeo earned his second ACCEL 3XVI UAAP Press Corps Player of the Week in just three weeks after starring yet again in the Tamaraws' unstoppable charge.

Last Wednesday, Romeo led the hot-shooting Tamaraws to an 87-83 triumph over National University where he fired six of FEU's season-high 15 triples.

Romeo, the fourth-year guard who used to be criticized for his individualistic plays, wound up with a team-high 24 points, three rebounds and five assists.

“Nag-extra shooting talaga kami para mag-improve,” said Romeo, the 2010 Rookie of the Year and last season's Mythical Team member.

The Tamaraws' hard work continued to pay off as they crushed last year's runner-up University of Santo Tomas, 77-67, last Sunday in a victory that extended their winning streak to six games.

Romeo topscored anew with 19 points, 12 coming in the second half, aside from posting three rebounds, an assist and a steal.

“Wala pa kaming napo-prove hanggang sa hindi namin nakukuha ang goal namin (We haven’t proven anything until we achieve our goal),” said Romeo, who got the press corps' nod just a week after teammate RR Garcia won the citation also presented by Gatorade.

Romeo edged University of the East's Roi Sumang and Charles Mammie and Adamson's Jericho Cruz for the weekly honor given by scribes from the national broadsheets, tabloids and online media.