RJ Abarrientos was a man among boys as he quickly left his imprint on Far Eastern University's 76-51 rout of University of Santo Tomas to open the UAAP Season 84 men's basketball tournament Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Burdened by the lofty expectations levied on his shoulders, the Gilas Pilipinas shooter proved that he's indeed ready for primetime, catching fire early and draining three three-pointers in the Tamaraws' second-quarter breakaway.
His last trey in that canto gave his side a 41-15 lead with 3:14 left in the frame as FEU cruised to the easy 25-point victory.
Abarrientos' seniors debut was nothing short of impressive as he led the Tamaraws with 18 points on 4-of-10 shooting from deep, to go with five rebounds and two assists.
But it wasn't just him as Bryan Sajonia ended up with 12 points and eight rebounds and Nigerian slotman Emman Ojuola tallied eight points, six boards, and three assists in their first game with the Tamaraws.
"We're just happy to get our first win after two long years of waiting. We're happy that we got that win but we still have a lot of things to do," said coach Olsen Racela.
L-Jay rests
What made the win all the more impressive was FEU did that with lead guard L-Jay Gonzales resting on the bench in his debut due to a sprained ankle.
Joshua Fontanilla carried UST with 19 points on a 3-of-6 clip from deep, while Nic Cabanero got 12 points, two boards, and two assists in the Growling Tigers loss.
The scores:
FEU 76 -- Abarrientos 18, Sajonia 12, Ojuola 8, Gravera 6, Coquia 6, Li 5, Bienes 4, Anonuevo 4, Sleat 3, Alforque 2, Dulatre 2, Sandagon 2, Celzo 2, Torres 2, Tempra 0.
UST 51 -- Fontanilla 19, Cabanero 12, Concepcion 7, Gomez de Liano 3, Santos 3, Manalang 3, Ando 2, Manaytay 2, Garing 0, Pangilinan 0, Herrera 0, Canoy 0, Samudio 0.
Quarters: 22-9, 47-18, 60-35, 76-51.
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