Tams win; Maroons end long drought

Games today (Mall of Asia Arena)

2 p.m. – UE vs AdMU

4 p.m. – DLSU vs UST

MANILA, Philippines - Far Eastern U brought down National U, 71-62, to rattle the team standings on a day University of the Philippines put an end to a harrowing 27-game drought in the UAAP Season 76 men’s basketball tourney at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Tams dropped 21-6 bomb in the second quarter to seize a 20-point lead then weathered the Bulldogs’ furious rally in endgame to improve to 4-2 and join defending champion La Salle at third spot.

The Bulldogs ended their first round campaign with 5-2, yielding the lead to idle Ateneo (5-1).

The talk of the town, however, was how the Maroons finally tasted a first victory since 2012 after outclassing Adamson, 77-64, in an emotionally-charged battle between the doormats that felt like a championship tussle.

“Okay, let’s talk about UP versus Adamson, it’s the bigger game today,” joked FEU coach Nash Racela during the post-game interview.

Turning serious, he said it was a big win for FEU. “I think it was the most crucial game for us because if we lost this game, we’d be in the lower half. The players knew how important it was; from the beginning, the focus was there, the effort was there and now we’re with them (top teams).”

Carl Cruz and Achie Inigo led FEU’s scoring with 16 and 14 points, respectively, easing the load on Mike Tolomia and Mac Belo who had 10 and 9.

Gelo Alolino paced NU with 13 markers.

The Maroons posted their first win since a 63-48 disposal of University of the East on Aug. 19, 2012. They would celebrate with a bonfire at the Sunken Garden at night. 

“As pathetic as it sounds, masarap ang manalo (It’s a nice feeling to win),” quipped veteran Mikee Reyes, who personally had to wait for five long years to emerge victorious, having sat out Seasons 75 and 76.

Reyes fired a career-high 28 points spiked by four triples plus five rebounds and three assists as JR Gallarza, who was a rookie bench warmer in their 2012 victory, also had a career game of 24 markers, six boards and three steals to lead UP to a 1-6 card after the first round.

Throngs of supporters showed up to rally behind the Maroons, including Sen. Sonny Angara, who donated a flat screen TV for the team’s viewing sessions recently. 

“We wanted to win this for a lot of people,” said Reyes, citing their managers led by Dan Palami, supporters led by Angara, suspended coach Rey Madrid and assistant coaches Ramil Cruz and Poch Juinio who took over in their last two games.

The Maroons unleashed a 10-0 blast ending the first for a 17-13 lead and never relinquished control, leading by as many as 24 at 60-36. The Falcons cut it to 10 with still 3:01 left but Gallarza hit his fourth triple and UP held on amid chants of “bonfire, bonfire” and a promise of incentive from Palami.

“As a team, we really prepared for this game. I think we prepared for this one more than the other games. It’s not an excuse for all the games that we lost by a lot. But we really wanted this game, we really felt we can get a win here,” said Reyes.

Don Trollano (24 points, nine rebounds) and Jansen Rios (20 markers, 10 boards) led AdU, which dropped to 0-6.