FINALLY, Far Eastern University has unlocked the chamber of secrets to winning.
Determined to earn a much needed breakthrough victory for their first-year head coach, the Tamaraws took their first step back to respectability, repulsing a similarly hard-luck Ateneo team in the first overtime of UAAP Season 87, 66-65, on Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
And what did they found out? That sometimes, you just got to gut it out until time expires.
Jorick Bautista held the keys to the kingdom for the Morayta crew, unlocking the gates to the win column after six tries. He fired eight of his 18 points in the extra period, none bigger than his fadeaway jumper over Chris Koon to put his side up by six, 63-57, with 34.1 seconds left.
Kristian Porter still made things interesting for the Blue Eagles, hitting a three to cut the lead down to two, but Jared Bahay missed his technical free throw leading to Mo Konateh icing the game at the charity stripe with 5.1 ticks on the clock.
Tamaraws continue mastery over Blue Eagles
It was a sweet first win for coach Sean Chambers, as he continued FEU's mastery of Ateneo after last year's elimination sweep.
"We told you it's gonna take some time 'cause these guys are so young, they're still getting used to playing at this stage and learning my system. All of those losses, I got to be man enough to take all of those, but I said last game that pretty soon, every team is gonna have a hard time playing against us,” said the American tactician.
Bautista, who also grabbed five rebounds, actually scored six in the fourth quarter as he helped the Tamaraws hold a 51-46 lead, but a rally from Sean Quitevis and Bahay knotted the score with 1:29 remaining.
Royce Alforque added 12 points and five boards, but missed two potential game-winning daredevil drives late in regulation. Fortunately, Porter also muffed three open treys on the other end during that sequence.
Konateh once again shined with 10 points and 18 rebounds, fellow rookie Veejay Pre churned out a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards, and another neophyte in Janrey Pasaol came close to his own with 10 points, eight rebounds, and two steals in the conquest.
The shock defeat dragged down the Blue Eagles to 1-4.
Koon nabbed 12 points, but shot 4-of-12 from the field, to go with four rebounds and three assists, while Bahay and Porter scored 11 each.
The Scores:
FEU 66 – Bautista 18, Alforque 12, Konateh 10, Pre 10, Pasaol 10, Montemayor 4, Daa 2, Nakai 0, Ona 0, Bagunu 0, Jones 0.
ATENEO 65 – Koon 12, Porter 11, Bahay 11, Quitevis 9, Lazaro 6, Tuano 6, Gamber 6, Espinosa 3, Balogun 1, Bongo 0, Espina 0, Ong 0.
Quarters: 19-14, 27-32, 40-41, 51-51, 66-65.
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