Defense wins it for Tams against Archers

MANILA, Philippines — It is said that defense wins championships.

The idiom rang true for the FEU Tamaraws on Wedensday when they stymied a DLSU comeback during the second half of their clash.

The Green Archers cut the Morayta-based squad's lead down to six with 6:14 remaining in the game after trailing by as many as 14 points early in the second half.

Rather than having his team focus on getting back at their opponents with points of their own, FEU mentor Olsen Racela instructed his team to focus on defense.

"Like I always tell my players, when another team makes a run, ano yung iisipin natin? Make stops," Racela said after the game.

"Sa amin, ayaw naming tapusin or putulin yung run nila by scoring. Ang priority namin is making stops. And I think we did a good job today of really defending and making it hard for their main guys to score," he added.

It was stingy defense and timely baskets from Wendel Comboy that inevitably neutralized the Archers' comeback try.

A 10-3 scoring run brought the lead back to double digits, 64-53, with 1:35 left to play.

"Masasabi ko lang na yun naman pina-practice namin lalo na sa conditioning coach namin. So given the opportunity, kailangan maging confident lang ako sa sarili ko," Comboy said of his victory-ensuring baskets.