Tams dismember Pirates in runup to UAAP season

MANILA, Philippines — Despite playing against a nine-man opponent, the Far Eastern University Tamaraws still showed no mercy against the Lyceum of the Philippines University Pirates, taking an 87-62 win, yesterday at the Greenhills West indoor court in San Juan City.

“We’re trying to build a culture where you play a hundred percent all the time,” said second-year Tamaraws head coach Olsen Racela. “It doesn’t matter who you’re facing, ang concern namin is how we play. Yun yung sinasabi ko sa kanila.”

Richard Escoto and Achie Inigo provided the spark for the Tamaraws, finishing with 13 and 12 markers, respectively. But it was Alec Stockton and Joseph Nunag who hammered the Pirates in the final frame as the former scored a team-high 15 points, four assists, and two steals while the latter chipped in 14 points.

“If you noticed, I gave exposure to our guys who were our bench players a season ago. This is their opportunity to prove to me if they want to be part of the rotation,” said Racela.

“Some of our new guys also like (Anaclito) Dulatre, (Clifford)] Jopia, and (James) Tempra, who is from Cebu. This is our opportunity for us to look at them.”