All green and go for Tams as No. 2

MANILA, Philippines - A highly motivated Mike Tolomia grabbed his opportunity to atone for his previous boo-boo and delivered in the stretch this time as Far Eastern U tripped La Salle, 65-60, to secure the No. 2 seeding and twice-to-beat advantage in their UAAP Season 77 men’s basketball Final Four showdown yesterday at the MOA Arena.

Tolomia, who had sleepless nights after two missed free-throws in their 64-68 overtime loss to Ateneo at the end of the elims, took charge in the clutch and redeemed himself in leading a decisive 7-0 windup that lifted the Tams to the win.

The 5-11 Tolomia shot 19 points overall, banging in the game-tying lay-up then making a split to put FEU up, 61-60 with 1:43 left. His teammate Carl Bryan Cruz padded the lead to three with a basket and then Tolomia took the ball away from Almond Vosotros and drew an unsportsmanlike four from Jeron Teng. He went one-of-two to make it 64-60, 7.7 seconds left.

“Parang natatawa na lang ako sa sarili ko sa pagsubok, parang ambilis, isang laro lang, binigyan ako ng opportunity na bumawi. Thankful ako ke God. (I’m thankful that after one only game, I was given the chance to redeem myself),” said Tolomia who admitted to not sleeping well for two nights following that Ateneo setback.

The huge victory put FEU into the prime position going into their actual semis encounter on Saturday as they only need to win once to advance to the championship.

“We haven’t achieved anything yet. That’s why I had to talk to my players right after the game to remind them not to celebrate too much. Of course, we’re happy we won this game but then again malayo pa (it’s not over yet), we need another win for us to make it to the finals,” said FEU coach Nash Racela.

The Tams had control three-fourths of the way, going up by as many as 13 at one point (27-14 in the second). The Archers tried to turn things around with a 10-5 start in the payoff period, seizing a 60-58 lead on an Arnold van Opstal post move with 3:22 to go.

“It was really hard especially coming off that loss to Ateneo. Today showed the character of the team. Sabi namin (We told them) if you want to succeed in life, you have to persevere. It wasn’t easy beating La Salle. Good thing our players persevered especially when we struggled in the second half,” said Racela, whose wards went 3-0 in their head-to-head against the Archers this season.

“They attacked well on offense and defended well,” DLSU coach Juno Sauler said.