HUBERT Cani took matters into his own hands late, scoring 11 of the Far Eastern University’s final 13 points in a 76-69 victory over La Salle in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Chooks-to-Go Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup on Thursday in San Juan.
Gun-shy all game long, the 5-foot-10 guard hogged the spotlight in the final four minutes to propel the Tamaraws to the final four.
“More than his offense, ang gusto kong improvement niya is yung depensa,” remarked coach Olsen Racela of Cani. “Nag-focus kami this off-season not just on-ball defense but also, awareness on the defensive end. Yun ang malaking improvement ni Hubert.”
Cani led FEU with 22 points, Prince Orizu got 10 points and six rebounds, and Arvin Tolentino also collected 10 points and two boards.
Barkley Ebona got things done down low with six points and 11 rebounds, while Ken Tuffin, Richard Escoto and Wendell Comboy all scored six.
The Tamaraws await the winner of the Ateneo-Letran duel for their semifinal date on Friday.
“Nagustuhan ko lang ngayon, we have one more game to prepare us for the season. We did not get equal opportunity to play these teams dahil nandoon kami sa kabilang grupo. When we’re playing the favored teams, yun ang magpe-prepare sa amin this season,” said Racela.
Aljun Melecio’s triple gave La Salle a 65-63 lead in the final 3:47, but that was his team’s final hurrah as Cani would then go berserk and help FEU pull away in the end game.
Andrei Caracut paced the Green Archers with 15 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, while Justine Baltazar got 14 and four.
The scores:
FEU 76 — Cani 22, Orizu 10, Tolentino 10, Comboy 6, Eboña 6, Escoto 6, Tuffin 6, Iñigo 3, Stockton 3, Gonzales 2, Parker 2, Jopia 0, Nunag 0, Ramirez 0.
La Salle 69 — Caracut 15, Baltazar 14, Melecio 14, Samuel 12, Dyke 6, Go 6, Manuel 2, Bates 0, Capacio 0, Corteza 0, Herrera 0, Lim 0, Manaytay 0.
Quarterscores: 15-11; 35-27; 52-46; 76-69.
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