By Adrich Nycolle P. Igloria

Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws succumbed to the winless University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers in their first round meet, 62-68, in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 men’s basketball tournament today, October 22, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

The Tamaraws drew first tally on the scoreboard with a Mo Faty perimeter shot, but were easily taken away by UST shooting guard Migs Pangilinan and Nic Cabañero’s back-to-back three-point shots, 2-6.

In a post-game interview, Bautista emphasized the lack of defense by the team to end round one.

“Sa defense and effort, kasi parang hindi kami naglaro. Last game namin, grabe kami dumepensa, pero ngayon parang ang passive namin kaya siguro natalo kami (In our defense and effort, it is like we didn’t play. In our last game, we defended very well but today, it seems that we were passive, which is why we lost).

The Morayta-squad found it difficult to pull away as the España squad got possession after possession to leave the first quarter at a five-point gap,17-22.

During the second quarter, green-and-gold cager Patrick Sleat led both offensive and defensive sides producing six points and multiple rebounds for the team.

Despite putting UST on a foul penalty, FEU still could not get hold of the lead to end the first half on a four-point trail, 34-38.

Both teams were in a back-and-forth affair in the third quarter after FEU stole a one-point lead in the third quarter with Xyrus Torres' shot from beyond the arc.

The Morayta gunners were limited to producing points from free throws in the first four minutes of the final frame leading to an FEU timeout at 5:28 mark.

FEU’s defense collapsed in the remaining minutes despite the momentum shift conducted by back-to-back baskets from Torres and team captain LJay Gonzales.

The Miranda-led squad ended round 1 eliminations with a 2-5 win-loss record and will try to reclaim triumph in the second round of the tourney.

(Photo by Raph Bautista/FEU Advocate)