IT’S the moment of truth for Far Eastern University (FEU) and University of Santo Tomas (UST).
The men’s basketball championship series of Season 78 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) has gone down to a winner-take-all Game Three on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Game time is 3:30 p.m.
The Tamaraws are on the verge of repeating their tragic ending in Season 77, when they lost to National University (NU). But FEU Head Coach Nash Racela promised a better outcome to put an end to their 10-year title drought.
The Growling Tigers are also hungry, having won the UAAP jewel in 2006, and a triumph would complete their Cinderella run this season—the España-based squad was never tipped to win the title.
“We will just continue what we’re doing. Enjoy the game and play tough defense,” said UST Head Coach Bong dela Cruz. “We also need to have the mental toughness.”
The Growling Tigers forced a do-or-die Game Three with a 62-56 victory in Game Two on Saturday behind the scintillating performance of Kevin Ferrer, who dropped 24 points in the third period alone en route to a 29-point performance. Ferrer, Karim Abdul and Ed Daquioag are part of the UST team that lost to Ateneo de Manila in the Season 75 finals and they vowed to give their all to leave the league in style.
“It’s the last game, so we have to give what we can give. I don’t want to go out crying,” Ferrer said in Filipino.
Ferrer, who finished second to Ateneo’s Kiefer Ravena in the Most Valuable Player race, highlighted his third-quarter explosion with six three-pointers that erased FEU’s 30-21 halftime lead.
But the Tamaraws got back in the game and even took a 54-50 advantage with six minutes left. The Growling Tigers, however, closed out the game with a 12-2 assault to force the knockout match. “We expect them to come back strong but we will be ready for them,” said dela Cruz, who is eyeing his first UAAP crown as a head coach. He won several titles as a Tiger Cub.
FEU drew first blood in the series with a 75-64 win but failed to sweep UST. Now the Tamaraws are in danger of losing in the finals for the second straight season after holding a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
Racela is optimistic that his wards have learned their lesson from last year’s loss to the Bulldogs.
“It’s the same scenario as last year but we will look for a different outcome,” the third-year FEU coach said. “We’re so close to winning it. The players were a little frustrated but the question now for us is what we will do after? I’m confident that we can bounce back and we’re looking forward to that third game.”
Mike Tolomia was the missing piece for the Tamaraws in Game Two, going 0-of-15 from the floor. But Racela said it was just one of those nights for his combo guard and expects him to play differently in the pivotal Game Three.
“These are veteran players and I’m sure they will come back stronger the next game,” Racela said.