FEU unleashes Tolomia as Archers start title defense with a loss

No Terrence Romeo? No RR Garcia? No problem.

The Far Eastern University Tamaraws unleashed Mike Tolomia on the defending champion De La Salle University Greer Archers for an 82-77 victory, Saturday afternoon at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Often the third wheel in FEU’s loaded backcourt rotation last season, Tolomia was finally given the time to shine as Garcia graduated and Romeo passed up on his final year of eligibility in the UAAP.

Tolomia lit up the scoreboard with 23 points in the game but during FEU’s most crucial possession, he displayed the willingness to let another Tamaraw get the limelight as he found Carl Bryan Cruz wide open for a layup resulting to an 81-77 lead with 29.2 seconds left.

Norbert Torres hastened DLSU’s demise as he missed two free throws on the other end.

Tolomia was named the Best Player of the Game with 23 points, five rebounds, and three assists.

Almond Vosotros led La Salle with 18 points in the game while Jeron Teng added 14. Jason Perkins had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds while Arnold Van Opstal and Norbert Torres combined for 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The Tamaraws started the game flat as they allowed the Archers to claim an early 23-10 advantage. However, Mac Belo kept the Tamaraws close in the second quarter. He scored on a layup and added an and-1 play in the next possession to cut La Salle’s lead down to eight points at 27-19 with 6:30 left in the first half.

Russel Escoto and Mark Cruz then took advantage of their bigger lineup as they cut the DLSU lead down to five points. Tolomia added a layup at the 4:21 mark for a 30-27 count in favor of La Salle, which also forced head coach Juno Sauler to call a timeout.

Almond Vosotros scored on a layup and a triple to halt FEU’s run as the Archers held on for a 37-33 halftime lead.

The Tamaraws were finally able to tie the score at the 5:39 mark of the third quarter with a triple from Tolomia. After a La Salle basket, Cruz scored his own three to put FEU up 52-51.

However, with FEU in penalty, the Archers kept their heads above water at the tend of the third, 59-57, with free throws although they did not have a high percentage

Tolomia then turned the fourth quarter into his personal stage. He hit a three at the 2:58 mark to give FEU a 75-71 lead. Escoto then added two free throws for a six-point lead with two minutes left on the clock.

Thomas Torres kept La Salle’s hope alive as he nailed a three on the next possession and the Tamaraws didn’t help themselves by committing an offensive foul. However, Torres had a huge turnover as he lost the ball in the backcourt leading to two FEU free throws.

Norbert Torres and Jeron Teng then conspired for three straight points to cut FEU’s lead down to two points at 79-77.

The Main Man: It’s finally Mike Tolomia’s time to shine in FEU. The guard hit the game’s biggest shots and gave out a crucial assist to lead the Tamaraws to an upset win against the defending champions.

Honorable Mentions: Mac Belo played an outstanding game with 20 points and four rebounds although he had to check out of the game because of cramps. Russel Escoto returned from an ACL tear in the last season to chip in 13 points, five rebounds, and two assists.

Game Turning Point: The Archers still had a huge shot at winning the game with less than a minute left. However, with their defense concentrating on Tolomia, the guard outsmarted the Archers by dishing off to Cruz for an open layup and a four-point lead.

He Said It:

FEU head coach Nash Racela: We really could not blame the players for having a bad start because it’s the first game of the season. That’s why we just let them play the game out even if it got scary because their lead kept getting bigger. But when the boys got a feel for the game, we played much better. We’re really more unpredictable now. You’ll see a lot of looks from this FEU. I didn’t expect the contributions from Russell Escoto but of course we’ll take it.

The scores:

FEU 82: Tolomia 23, Belo 20, Escoto 13, Cruz 11, Pogoy 6, Inigo 4, Jose 3, Anthony 2

DLSU 77: Vosotros 18, Teng 14, Perkins 11, T. Torres 9, N. Torres 7, Van Opstal 6, Montalbo 6, Tratter 2, Sargent 2, Rivero 2

Quarters: 10-23, 33-37, 57-59, 82-77