Tams tame Tigers, gain piece of lead

Games today (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

2 p.m. – AdU vs UE

4 p.m. –AdMU vs NU

MANILA, Philippines - Far Eastern U hammered a fang-less Santo Tomas, 66-55, while holder La Salle racked up its seventh straight win at the expense of the University of the Philippines, 86-65, as the Tams and the Green Archers surged into a share of the lead in the UAAP Season 77 men’s basketball yesterday at the MOA Arena.

Out to avenge their first-round defeat and maintain a good position in the standings, the Tams came out charging at the Kevin Ferrer-less Tigers and stormed to a 42-19 tear to set the tone for their fourth consecutive victory and 7-2 overall.

With the win, they tied idle Ateneo and first-game victor La Salle at the No. 1 spot.

“It was our defense (that did the trick) and again the focus of the players was there,” said FEU coach Nash Racela after his wards sent the Tigers down to joint fifth at 4-5.

“We told the players after the game that if there’s good thing we got from this win, it was, number one: getting back at UST, which defeated us in the first round; and number two: getting into a good position for a Final Four slot. Although it’s not yet a guarantee right now, if we’re three games ahead, it would be doubly-hard for UST and UE to really catch up,” he added.

Roger Pogoy rifled in a career-high 19 points while Mac Belo added 12 and Raymar Jose and Achie Inigo chipped in eight apiece to offset the four-point production of Mike Tolomia, who was “under the weather” and played just 16 minutes.

The Tams led by as many as 25 points, at 58-33 late in the third, allowing Racela the luxury of giving the shock troopers some exposure.

Karim Abdul banged in a season-high 24 points and 16 rebounds to lead a UST side that missed Ferrer due to a fourth metacarpal fracture and got zero production from Aljon Mariano, who flubbed his five attempts in 15 minutes of play.

Meanwhile, La Salle started like a house divided but finished like a house on fire as they chalked up win no. 7 over the Maroons (1-8).

The defending champions waited until the third quarter to go full throttle, feeding on the energy of sub Abu Tratter to wiggle free from a 40-39 contest and unleash a game-changing 17-4 salvo.

Tratter fired all of his seven points in the penultimate period to jumpstart the Archers’ break-away even as starters Almond Vosotros, Jeron Teng and Jason Perkins took the cue and joined in the 28-19 quarter that swayed the momentum to DLSU.

“I think the guys weren’t ready to play, weren’t focused mentally in terms of what we wanted to achieve on our gameplan defensively and offensively. Aside from the lack of focus at the start, our energy level was really down,” rued coach Juno Sauler.

“Abu, when he came in the third, brought a lot of energy and it rubbed off on a lot of players. That’s when we picked up,” he added.

Vosotros fired a season-high 21 points spiked by five triples as Teng put in 15 markers, six rebounds and five assist and Perkins had a double-double of 13 points and 11 boards. After missing four games due to Achilles injury, Arnold Van Opstal marked his return by shooting 12 markers with eight caroms.

Despite falling behind, 6-17 in the first, the Maroons pounced on the Archers’ listless effort and fought their way back in at 28-all in the second. The Maroons stayed within a manageable level until the mid point of the third, 41-44, before the Archers took command for good.

“We can’t afford to start this way. I didn’t like how we started, especially the lack of mental concentration. It’s unacceptable,” said Sauler.

JR Gallarza (18 spiked by four treys) and Mikee Reyes (14) led scoring while Mark Juruena posted 12 rebounds, nine points and nine dimes for UP, which suffered its second consecutive setback for 1-8 overall.