By Rick Olivares
FAR Eastern University (FEU) repelled repeated uprisings by San Sebastian to win their Filoil Flying V Premier Cup opener, 77-64, at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan on Wednesday.
After falling behind by double digits early in the first period, the young Stags under first-year head coach and former star Edgar Macaraya came charging back to take a two-point lead, 39-37, with five minutes to go in the third period.
FEU shooting guard Monbert Arong, taking the cudgels from Mike Tolomia, who is now playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Developmental League in preparation for the upcoming PBA draft, sandwiched five points between a three-point play by Steve Holmqvist to give the Tamaraws a 45-39 lead they would not relinquish.
In the fourth period, the reigning University Athletic Association of the Philippines champions Tamaraws shot a blistering 56 percent from the field, 9-16, to go with 14 rebounds and six assists, while San Sebastian self-destructed with five turnovers and an atrocious 7-22 shooting.
“We had a lot of turnovers,” noted FEU Head Coach Nash Racela of his team’s play that resulted in 35 errors. “We’re lucky we got the win because if we were playing teams like La Salle or Ateneo, they would take advantage of that. But we did well in the fourth with players hitting big shots and executing well. But that is expected because this is the preseason.”
Despite missing six players from last year’s title squad, the Tamaraws drew firepower from second-year player Monbert Arong, who topscored with 16 points. Another old player, Holmqvist, who despite his 23 years of age is only in his second year, had 11 points along with Jojo Trinidad.
“He [Holmqvist] needs more game experience to be consistent,” said Racela who will still have the benefit of several players who played key roles in last year’s run to the UAAP championship.
San Sebastian’s Ryan Costelo had 15 points. His longtime teammate dating back to the juniors ranks, Michael Calisaan, backstopped him with 13 points.
In other matches, the Arellano University Chiefs, one of the favored teams to compete for the National Collegiate Athletic Association crown, also had to fend off pesky Emilio Aguinaldo College’s (EAC) repeated charges before pulling out a 79-72 win.
After leading by as many as 17 points, EAC slowly cut down the lead to 69-73 after an Igee King free throw. The Generals, now under former juniors coach Aris Sison, who took over from Any de Guzman after the end of the last NCAA season, looked energized after back-to-back dunks by center Haminou Laminou.
The Chiefs, however, remained unimpressed and countered with big shots by team captain Jiovani Jalalon and center Dioncee Holts and new power forward Lervin Flores, who combined for six points in the stretch.
The Generals actually shot themselves in the foot by turning the ball over 23 times while shooting an atrocious 24-42 for 57 percent at the free-throw line.
Jalalon scored 18 points, while teammate Zach Nicholls added 10 for Arellano. Laminou led EAC with 16 points and six rebounds, while Sidney Onwubere tallied a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds with four assists.
Lyceum of the Philippines University held off Mapua, 91-82, also on Wednesday.