YOUNGBLOODS L-Jay Gonzales and Royce Alforque sparked Far Eastern University to a 72-58 victory over University of Santo Tomas on Sunday in the UAAP Season 82 men's basketball tournament at Mall of Asia Arena.
The duo keyed the Tamaraws' fourth quarter pullaway from a close 53-51 affair in the final 6:33 as they staged a killer 13-2 blast to grab a 66-53 advantage with 1:51 left to play.
Gonzales poured 17 points and six rebounds, while the rookie Alforque had 16 points, six assists, and four boards.
Their efforts led to FEU moving up to a share of third place at 5-5 with UST.
It was a big bounce-back for the Tamaraws after an 85-79 overtime defeat to NU last week.
"I'm just trying to understand my team more. We need more consistency," said coach Olsen Racela. "We’ve proven that we can compete against the top teams and we're hoping that we can do that on a consistent basis."
"Every win counts in the second round. Para sa amin, every game is a do-or-die game and we treated this game like that, and they responded."
Alec Stockton scored 10 points and had two rebounds, while Brandrey Bienes drilled three crucial treys in that FEU onslaught, finishing with nine points, three boards and two steals.
Brent Paraiso topscored for the Growling Tigers with 12 points, four rebounds and two assists, as Rhenz Abando and Zachy Huang combined for 22 points and 11 boards.
Soulemane Chabi Yo was limited anew, finishing with just seven points, while hauling down 15 rebounds and two blocks.
Ateneo also benefitted from the triumph, grabbing the first twice-to-beat advantage with its 10-0 record.
The scores:
FEU 72 - Gonzales 17, Alforque 16, Stockton 10, Bienes 9, Comboy 7, Torres 5, Cani 4, Tuffin 3, Tchuente 1, Ebona 0, Mantua 0.
UST 58 - Paraiso 12, Abando 11, Huang 11, Chabi Yo 7, Nonoy 6, Cansino 5, Subido 4, Concepcion 2, Ando 0, Bataller 0, Bordeos 0, Cosejo 0, Cuajao 0.
Quarterscores: 14-10; 26-23; 45-39; 72-58.