PCCL: Tolomia sizzles for 23 points, leads Tamaraws over Red Lions

Mike Tolomia’s second-half surge powered the Far Eastern University Tamaraws past the San Beda College Red Lions, 62-56, in Philippine Collegiate Championship League Final Four, on Monday at the Blue Eagle Gym in the Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City.

After the first day of the round-robin part of the tourney, FEU and Southwestern University, which earlier upset the De La Salle University Green Archers, hold 1-0 cards.

Tolomia scored all but two of his 23 points in the second half, to go with four rebounds and four assists. Carl Cruz added 11 points and four rebounds, while Achie Iñigo tallied eight points and 10 boards.

The Red Lions finished were second runners-up in the tournament thrice since 2009, and have yet to return to the Finals since losing in 2006. Meanwhile, this is the Tams’ first Final Four berth since winning back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004.

The momentum swung to the extremes in the first quarter, as the Red Lions established a 9-2 lead off Ola Adeogun’s tomahawk slam. But the game shifted in FEU’s favor when Adeogun got into foul trouble, and the Tams knotted the game at 14-14 at the end of the period, highlighted by an Achie Iñigo-Carl Cruz alley-oop.

Consecutive drives by Roger Pogoy put FEU ahead, 18-14, early in the second quarter. Far Eastern tried to push the pace but couldn’t execute well, leading to several turnovers that favored the Red Lions. Led by Dan Sara and Adeogun’s forays in the paint, San Beda staged a 16-6 run the rest of the way for a 30-24 lead during the halftime break.

Art Dela Cruz opened the third period with a long two, but Mike Tolomia took control of the game for FEU from that point on. Tolomia wreaked havoc in the lane, scoring eight points in an ensuing 15-2 run, leading 39-34.

With around two minutes to go, the Red Lions ended a five-minute drought and trimmed the gap to one, 39-38, off a breakaway layup by Francis Abarcar. However, Tolomia continued to sizzle, as he dropped a three-pointer en route to scoring five of FEU’s last seven points in the frame, 46-40.


An Iñigo trey helped the Tamaraws create a 49-42 gap, but they battled foul trouble early in the frame. Dela Cruz put FEU in the penalty at the 6:56 mark, and split his charities. The Red Lions slashed the lead to three, capped by Baser Amer’s first basket off a Tams turnover, but right on cue, Tolomia scored six straight by plunging straight into the defense. He then fed Anthony Hargrove for a two-handed slam, 61-55, with two minutes to play.

The Red Lions were unable to compose themselves for a good offensive possession until Adeogun drew contact inside with 25 seconds left, though he managed to just split his charities. San Beda then intentionally fouled Hargrove to preserve the clock, sending him to the line with 12 seconds to go. The forward knocked down both to finalize the score.

Art Dela Cruz top-scored for San Beda with 13 points and nine rebounds. Dan Sara and Rome Dela Rosa added 12 and 10 points, respectively, and combined for seven rebounds. Ola Adeogun tallied nine points and 12 rebounds.

FEU assistant coach Paolo Gonzales is handling lead coaching duties in the meantime while head coach Nash Racela is serving with the national team staff at the SEA Games in Myanmar. Also with him is forward Mac Belo, thinning the Tamaraws' ranks further. - AMD, GMA News


The scores:

FEU 62 - Tolomia 23, Cruz 11, Iñigo 8, Hargrove 8, Pogoy 4, Jose 4, Lee Yu 2, Mendoza 2, Dennison 0, Sentcheu 0

SBC 56 - Dela Cruz 13, Sara 12, Dela Rosa 10, Adeogun 9, A. Semerad 3, Amer 3, Pascual 2, Abarcar 2, D. Semerad 2, Ludovice 0, Koga 0

Quarter scoring: 14-14, 24-30, 46-40, 62-56