MANILA – Far Eastern University Tamaraws got its acts together in overtime to escape with an 82-79 win over the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons in the UAAP Season 82 men’s basketball at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Kenneth Tuffin posted season-high 18 points, including five triples, while L-Jay Gonzales tallied double-double 17 points and 12 rebounds.
The Tamaraws moved up to 4-4.
Leading by as much as 19 points early in the fourth period, the Fighting Maroons went on a huge rally with a Javi Gomez de Liano basket knotting the game at 69. Tamaraws had a chance to win it but Wendell Comboy misfired his triple try.
Comboy did get his redemption in the overtime period, scoring five points for the Tamaraws, including the big fade-away jumper that put his side up by three with 18.3 ticks remaining.
“We told them to focus on what’s right in front of us and that’s what we did,” said Tamaraws head coach Olsen Racela. “We just took it possession-by-possession. We started well, didn’t end well sa regulation pero nakabalik kami nung overtime.”
Kobe Paras finished with 22 points, nine rebounds, and six steals while Bright Akhuetie added 14 points and 11 boards as the Fighting Maroons slumped to 5-3 win-loss record after suffering back-to-back losses.
Meanwhile, De La Salle University Green Archers rode on the exploits of Justine Baltazar to score an 85-61 pounding on National University Bulldogs for its second straight win.
Baltazar posted double-double 25 points and 25 rebounds, while Andrei Caracut and Jamie Malonzo added 16 and 12 markers, respectively, as the Green Archers rose to 4-4.
The Bulldogs dropped to 1-7./PN
