THE Far Eastern University Tamaraws banked on the big plays of Roger Pogoy, Monbert Arong and Joe Trinidad to fashion out a thrilling 71-68 win over the De La Salle Green Archers in the 78th University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament last night at the Araneta Coliseum.
Pogoy tallied 11 points, nine of them from the three-point area, coming off the bench in the final four minutes and 30 seconds as the Tamaraws avenged their loss to the Green Archers in their last assignment.
Behind by 10 points in the third, the Tamaraws cut down La Salle’s lead by five in the fourth off Fil-Norwegian cager Steve Holmqvist’s driving layup, 52-57.
The 6’2” Pogoy, who came in after Prince Orizu left due to a sprain, then scored all of his 11 points in the final 2:02 in the middle of a 13-4 run that put FEU on top, 65-61.
La Salle, which dropped out of contention in the Final Four for the first time in four seasons, still managed to stay close on Jeron Teng’s basket, 65-67, with 1:22 to go. The Archers, however, still had a chance to tie the count, but Holmqvist bungled two charities in the remaining 14.7 seconds.
But the ball stayed in FEU’s possession after Thomas Torres committed an out-of-bounds violation, and Arong converted two charities off Teng’s foul, in the final 12.8 seconds for a 69-66 count.
Holmqvist later made up for his miscue when he assisted Trinidad for a quick drive as the seconds died down.
The Tams, back in the Final Four for a third season, will face the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the Final Four on Saturday after they finished second behind University of Santo Tomas Tigers, who have the same 11-3 win-loss card with them.
Tams coach Nash Racela said they did their best to minimize the playing times of their main players Mac Belo, Achi Inigo, Pogoy and Russell in order to reserve them for the Final Four.
“We wanted to get the win. I told the players to do their best to win every game. Ateneo is resting now, and it’s unfortunate that we had to play a no-bearing game. We play Ateneo in the Final Four. They’re a tough team,” said Racela.
Jeron Teng had 20 points and Prince Rivero added 16 points for La Salle, which led by 11, 57-46, in the last 7:40 off Teng’s three-point play.
Earlier, the University of the East Warriors trounced the University of the Philippines Maroons, 79-67, to cap their season with a flourish.
Clark Derige had 18 points, while Paul Varilla and Chris Javier combined for 26 points for the Warriors, who ended their season at sixth place with a 6-8 card.
“We fell one game short of getting into a tie for fourth and fifth. That could have made us in contention for the playoffs. But, the team still exceeded expectations with nine rookies in the team,” said UE coach Derrick Pumaren.
The Warriors banked on an 8-0 run, led by RR de Leon and Shannon Gagate at the start of the second period that put them comfortably on top, 25-18.
Games Saturday
(Araneta Coliseum)
3:30 p.m. FEU vs Ateneo