Tamaraws, Archers crack Top Four

MANILA, Philippines — FEU withstood a scorching UP rally and escaped with an 82-79 overtime win while La Salle scored an emphatic 85-61 victory over NU as the Tams and the Archers gained a piece of third place at the start of the 82nd UAAP men’s basketball second round  at the MOA Arena in Pasay City.

The Tamaraws blew away a huge 16-point lead (69-53) in the last 5:53 of the final canto but got their act together in extra session to forge a three-way logjam at No. 3 spot with the Santo Tomas and the Archers at 4-4.

Five players hit double-digits in a scattered FEU attack led by Ken Tuffin, who unloaded five triples including the go-ahead long bomb in the last 57.2 seconds to finish with 18 markers  and five rebounds.

LJ Gonzales (17), Pat Tchuente (14) and Xyrus Torres (12) put in their share while Wendell Comboy atoned for a missed game-winner in regulation to still finish with 10 markers including the insurance bucket in the last 18.3 seconds of OT.

“It’s a hard-fought win for us. That’s what you expect every game in the UAAP. I told the players before the game, we have to focus right what’s in front of us and do not mind the killer schedule ahead. We have to focus on UP and good thing is we did. We recovered in OT,” said coach Olsen Racela who just arrived from Dubai owing to his assistant coaching job with the Barangay Ginebra team.

Earlier, Archer Justine Baltazar delivered career highs of 25 points and 25 rebounds, including 10 off the offensive glass. The 6-foot-7 Gilas Pilipinas cadet also put in two assists and two blocks in what’s easily his best showing thus far as La Salle cracked the top four.

Skipper Andrei Caracut put up 16 points, six rebounds and five assists while Jamie Malonzo (12) and Kurt Lojera (9) added ample support for the Archers in their domination of the Bulldogs.