THE Far Eastern University Baby Tamaraws leaned two big defensive plays from Daniel Celzo to stop the Adamson Baby Falcons, 75-73, Saturday at the start of second round action of the 79th University Athletic Association of the Philippines junior basketball tournament at the Arena in San Juan.
The 6’5” Celzo first blocked an attempt from underneath by Jess Antiporda, and then won a rebound battle with Carl Vincent Tamayo, denying the Baby Falcons their last chances to score at the buzzer.
This allowed the Baby Tams to snap the Baby Falcons’ winning run after eight games.
The Baby Tams, who drew 24 and 11 points from Jeffrey Sapinit and Eric Jabel, went on to register their sixth win in eight games.
This put the Baby Falcons to a share of first place with the defending champion National University Bullpups at 7-1.
The Baby Tams took a two-point lead in the last 15 seconds off Louell Gonzales, who scored a free throw in the final 10.1 seconds.
“Binigay niya (Gonzales) ‘yung lahat ng magagawa niya. Hindi siya 100 percent. Last Monday lang siya nag-practice kaya kanina alalay lang siya,” said FEU coach Allan Albano.
The NU Bullpups gained a share of their lead with their 78-71 stopping of the Ateneo Blue Eaglets, 78-71, with Karl Penano hiting 19 points, and Paul Manalang adding 16 points and six rebounds.
Muhammed Srlip had a near double-double of 10 points and nine rebounds for NU.
The Bullpups never looked in trouble after they took a 58-52 lead in the third.
SJ Belangel had 14 points for the Blue Eaglets, while Dave Ildefonso had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Blue Eaglets.
In other games, Juan Gomez de Liaño had a double-double effort of 19 points and 15 rebounds as UP Integrated School downed University of the East, 82-74, for its third win in eight starts in fifth spot.
Crispin Cansino had 18 points, while Miguel Ratuiste added 12 points and 12 rebounds as University of Santo Tomas outlasted De La Salle-Zobel in overtime, 83-77, and gained a share of sixth spot at 2-6.
Games Tuesday (Filoil Flying V Centre)
9 a.m. AdU vs UPIS
11 a.m. – UST vs Ateneo (Jrs)
1 p.m. – UE vs FEU (Jrs)
3 p.m. – NU vs DLSZ (Jrs)