FilOil: Tolomia tows FEU past UP

The Far Eastern University Tamaraws continued their winning ways, battering UAAP rivals, University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, on Saturday, 71-66, at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The Maroons were down by only three points in the final two minutes of the game after UP power forward Chris Ball found an open Raul Soyud in the paint to cut FEU’s lead to 69-66. UP floor general however Mikee Reyes missed a potential game-tying three-pointer and his FEU counterpart RR Garcia scored an easy basket to give the Tams their third win in five games.

The Tams sit at number four of the Group A standings with a 3-2 record, while UP still has four games to steal a win or two.

Coach Nash Racela started RR Garcia, Mike Tolomia, Russel Escoto, Carl Bryan Cruz, and Christian Sentcheu, while UP mentor Ricky Dandan fielded Mikee Reyes, Sam Marata, Julius Wong, Chris Ball, and Raul Soyud.

FEU started the game running, as Tolomia went for two straight lay-ups and Gryann Mendoza added another to make it 6-0. UP scored its first basket after a hook by Ball, and Reyes split his free throws to make it 6-3.

UP was limited to only three points while FEU unloaded 12 after Belo, Garcia, and Pogoy all made baskets. A drive and a triple by Marata cut the FEU lead to four, 12-8, and Ball made a three-pointer to further reduce the lead to a single point, 12-11. Two free throws by Soyud countered a hook by Belo, but Hargrove scored a basket inside to give FEU a three-point lead, 16-13. A split by Desiderio ended the first quarter, with UP hanging tough at 16-14.

The Maroons leveled the game at 16-all after a short jumper by reserve center Martin Pascual, who was filling in for the injured Paolo Romero. UP took the lead for good after a triple by UP reserve Moriah Gingerich, and more of his comrades extended the lead as Pascual’s free throws and a jumper by Kyles Lao put the Maroons up by seven, 23-16.

The lead kept swinging around three to five points as both teams failed to find any rhythm offensively. The Tams finally tied the game at 30-all after a triple by Tolomia, and momentarily grabbed the lead after Escoto was left open inside, 32-30. The Maroons however regained the lead before halftime as a basket by Soyud inside and a triple by Ball put them up by four, 36-32.

Having made only 12-of-40 shots, the Maroons were shooting poorly (30 percent). They converted five out of 15 three-point attempts (33 percent) and 7-of-11 free throws. UP had a slight rebounding edge at 27-26.

Ball paced his team in scoring at the half with 10 points, followed by Pascual with seven and Marata with five.

The Tams shot better than the Maroons, making 14 of their 37 first half shots (38 percent). The difference was in three-point and free throw shooting, where the Tams made only 2-of-11 outside the arc, and 2-of-3 at the line.

Tolomia led his team in scoring at the half with 10 points, while Escoto added six of his own.


The Maroons held on to the lead fairly well in the third quarter, extending it to eight after a tough lay-in by Marata, 47-38. The Tams continued charging, holding the Maroons to 47 points, while going on a scoring rush that yielded them nine straight, tying the game after an acrobatic layup by FEU reserve Ron Dennison. A split by JR Gallarza stopped the bleeding for the Maroons, but an and-one basket by Pogoy and a drive by Escoto gave FEU the lead at 52-48 heading into the last quarter.

UP’s team medics confirmed that Romero will be sitting out the preseason as well as the UAAP proper after he incurred an ACL injury in their blowout loss against the CSB Blazers. Terrence Romeo continued to sit out for FEU as well.

The Tams took full charge in the fourth, extending the lead to eight points after an easy lay-in by Anthony Hargrove before an angry coach Dandan called a timeout. UP generated some offense after a jumper by Soyud, but another floater by Dennison kept the lead at eight. The referees slapped Soyud with an unsportsmanlike foul after he threw an inadvertent elbow on Hargrove after a scrum.

FEU went up by ten after Hargrove sank both free throws, 60-50. Mendoza attacked the UP defense with a spin and a lay-up, but Ball answered with another triple to make it a single digit lead, 62-53.

The Maroons added a little fancy after Reyes dribbled the ball into the right wing, passing the ball between his legs to Marata who drove to the line, getting the hoop and the harm, 63-56. Marata went on to make two successful trips to the basket which cut the lead, 63-60.

Hargrove emerged for the Tams late, scoring four straight points to put them up, 67-62. Ball made another jumper from the left wing to cut the lead to five, but RR Garcia spun in the lane for an easy two, 69-62.

With three minutes left in the quarter, UP went on a rally, as Marata converted another two points off a tough lay-up. After an FEU miss, Ball found the ball in his hands, faked a jumper and passed to an open Soyud to cut the lead to three again, 69-66. The Tams missed on the subsequent possession with a minute remaining in the quarter, while Reyes hoisted a three-pointer from the right wing which hit the back iron.

On the ensuing possession, the Tamaraws passed to Garcia, who made the similar spin and lay-in to ice the game at 77-61, as UP failed to generate any offense in the last 30 seconds of the game.

FEU shot 42 percent after making 30-of-71 attempts (42 percent) while hitting 8-of-16 attempts at the foul line. They out-rebounded the Maroons 55-51 and converted 13 second-chance points off 12 offensive rebounds. The Tams converted 11 turnover pointsfrom 14 UP turnovers.

Tolomia was the only player to score in double figures for the Tams with 15 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the three-point line.

The Maroons fared worse in the shooting department, making 25 of their 80 shots (31 percent). They missed five out of 14 free throw attempts and made only two points from 13 offensive rebounds.

Marata scattered 23 points, making 10 of his 18 shots. Ball followed suit with 18 markers, hitting all three of his three-point baskets.

UP will be severely tested by Group A linchpin NU on Friday, May 17 at 4pm, while Terrence Romeo and his Tams will see if they can escape the Lions’ Den alive, as they go against San Beda next Saturday, May 18 at 4pm. - RAF, GMA News


The scores:

FEU 71 – Tolomia 15, Hargrove 9, Garcia 8, Escoto 8, Mendoza 6, Dennison 6, Pogoy 5, Belo 4, Cruz 4, Inigo 2, Sentcheu 2, Jose 2, Aguilon 0, Lee Yu 0

UP 66 – Marata 23, Ball 17, Soyud 8, Pascual 7, Gingerich 3, Reyes 2, Asilum 2, Lao 2, Gallarza 1, Desiderio 1, Wong 0, Amar 0, Ligad 0, Paras 0, Suarez 0, Harris 0

Quarter scoring: 16-14, 32-36, 52-48, 71-66