FAR Eastern University defeated Adamson, 71-62, on Wednesday to forge a three-way tie for second place at the end of the first round of the UAAP Season 77 men’s basketball tournament at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Mike Tolomia had 21 points while Mark Belo had 13 for the Tamaraws, who held off a brave stand by an Adamson team coached by assistant Vince Hizon in the absence of Kenneth Duremdes.
FEU matched De La Salle and National University’s 5-2 (win-loss) record in the team standings at the end of a highly physical game that had tempers flaring in the second half.
Tamaraws coach Nash Racela was quick to play down the team's strong start to the campaign.
“I don’t see any advantage landing number two at the end of the first round,” said Racela.
Don Trollano finished with 17 points, while Jansen Rios chipped in 16 points for the Falcons, who put up a tough fight under Hizon's handling but remained winless after seven games.
Duremdes is in Bahrain to attend to "family matters."
The game almost went out of hand when FEU’s Anthony Hargrove and Trollano swung elbows at each other in the third quarter.
With 0.6 seconds to play in the game, Tamaraw point guard Jason David threw the ball at Chris Garcia, hitting him in the head.
The scores:
FEU (71) – Tolomia 21, Belo 13, Pogoy 9, Hargrove 6, Cruz 5, Tamsi 4, Inigo 3, Denila 3, Lee Yu 3, Ru. Escoto 2, David 1, Ugsang 1, Delfinado 0.
Adamson (62) – Trollano 17, Rios 16, Nalos 8, Donahue 6, Polican 5, Inigo 4, Aquino 2, Baytan 2, Gumtang 2, Garcia 0, Monteclaro 0, Barrera 0, Butron 0, Pedrosa 0, Villanueva 0, Ochea 0.
Quarterscores: 24-17; 34-26; 58-43; 71-62.
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