FAR Eastern University continued its newfound form, clipping University of the East, 75-68, on Sunday in the UAAP Season 85 men's basketball tournament at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Xyrus Torres had a big hand in the Tamaraws' turnaround, shooting six treys and finishing with 22 points and five steals. FEU has won three straight games, tying the Red Warriors at 3-5.
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Shaking off a listless first quarter, FEU slowly crawled its way back in the game before erupting in the second half where it flipped the game around and took a 14-point lead, 65-51, after a Bryan Sajonia three with seven minutes to play.
UE, though, still fought back and staged a 12-2 run to trim the lead down to four, 67-63, but Patrick Tchuente scored two key putbacks to deliver the haymaker for the Morayta crew.
Tchuente finished with 13 points and 11 boards, as L-Jay Gonzales did it all for the Tamaraws with 14 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds as they recovered from a fiery 12-0 opener for UE and fell behind by as much as 15 points, 23-8, in the first quarter.
"We got caught off guard sa start nila and we weren't expecting that, but my players stuck to the gameplan," said coach Olsen Racela.
"Nagka-problema lang sa start, our zone helped us in the second quarter, but it was our team defense which gave us the win."
Nikko Paranada had 21 points on 4-of-11 shooting from distance, to go with six rebounds and six assists, as Gani Stevens got 13 points and 10 boards as UE suffered its third straight loss.
The Red Warriors were burned by their 20 turnovers which turned to 26 easy points for the Tamaraws.
The scores:
FEU 75 - Torres 22, Gonzales 14, Tchuente 13, Sajonia 6, Anonuevo 5, Sleat 4, Bautista 4, Bagunu 3, Tempra 2, Celzo 2, Alforque 0, Sandagon 0.
UE 68 - N. Paranada 21, Stevens 13, Villegas 13, Payawal 9, K. Paranada 6, Sawat 4, Pagsanjan 2, Remogat 0, Alcantara 0, Guevarra 0, Antiporda 0, Beltran 0.
Quarterscores: 8-23; 34-42; 55-51; 75-68.
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