MANILA, Philippines – The Far Eastern University Tamaraws’ young core found themselves a new fan — La Salle big man Mike Phillips.
Phillips picked up the slack for the Green Archers as reigning Most Valuable Player Kevin Quiambao struggled during their UAAP Season 87 game against the Tamaraws last Wednesday, November 6. Against the young Tamaraws, he banged it out against La Salle grinded out a 58-53 victory.
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After the game, Phillips said that the FEU squad is “going to be really scary” moving forward.
“They're young guys, but they're really doing so well, like Coach Sean [Chambers] is doing an amazing job, and those guys are going to be really scary, and I told him, you guys really have a bright future, and it just makes me more excited to play again and really keep working hard,” he stressed.
“This is what the UAAP is all about, going against teams like FEU. The standings, and the record do not depict what FEU is. It does not depict at all how hard they fight,” he added.
Philips led the Archers with an impressive all-around statline of 17 markers, 15 boards, two assists, five steals and two blocks.
The bruising, hardworking center emphasized that such grind-it-out games are among the “most fun” contests he has played in.
“I just want to give thanks to Jesus Christ, because these are the types of games that I really find so much joy in. That was one of the most fun games I've had. When a lot of things are going wrong in my life, these are the types of moments that I really look forward to, and I'm so grateful that God woke me up and gave me the opportunity to play,” Philips said.
La Salle will be taking on the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons next on November 10, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, in a rematch of last season’s finals. — Brent Sagre, intern