Romeo sizzles, lifts FEU past UE
Counting out Far Eastern University can prove to be one costly mistake.
That’s exactly what pre-season favorite University of the East witnessed Saturday as the Tamaraws worked behind a furious second-half onslaught to eke out an 89-78 victory and set their UAAP Season 76 men’s cage title bid in motion at the MOA Arena.
Terrence Romeo, a member of last season’s Mythical Team, stood at the forefront of the Tamaraws' strong charge in final 20 minutes, firing away all but five of his game-high 23 points on top of 12 assists and nine rebounds in a solid all-around outing as FEU gave debuting coach Nash Racela a rousing debut.
Former league MVP RR Garcia backstopped Romeo with 18 points while American import Anthony Hargrove Jr., Carl Cruz and Cameroon reinforcement Christian Sencheu took turns in neutralizing UE’s prized import Charles Mammie.
ALSO READ: Can FEU's Romeo and Garcia finally make it work?
The 6-foot-7 Mammie, a 6-foot-7 native of Sierra Leone, hardly made his presence felt in a foul-plagued 17 minutes of play, coming up with just seven points and 12 rebounds.
Along with their suffocating defense on Mammie, a 57-point explosion in the second half clearly spelled the difference for the Tamaraws, who are raring to redeem themselves after missing the Final Four trip last season.
The Warriors, the surprising champions in the Filoil-Flying V pre-season tourney, repeatedly led by as many as 11 points in the first half, the last at 37-26, but lost steam in the face of the Tamaraws’ fightback.
Topscoring for the Warriors was guard Roi Sumang, who finished with 22 points.
The Main Man: Aside from his scoring prowess, Romeo proved he can also cause damage by setting up plays for his teammates.
Now on his fourth year, the 5-foot-11 guard was his usual high-scoring self notably in the second half but his 12 dimes–another game-best–was something the FEU faithful would love to cheer for.
Honorable Mention: The 6-foot-5 Hargrove appears eager to make the most of his second chance with the Morayta-based cagers.
After getting involved in a drug-related scandal in the off-season, the athletic forward was still recalled by the Tamaraws and immediately validated their trust, tallying nine of his 11 points in the a big third quarter surge plus rebounds.
More importantly, Hargrove proved he can held his own against Mammie.
Game Turning Point: The Red Warriors, with Sumang and Ralf Olivarez leading the way, got off to a strong start, enjoying their biggest lead at 11 before taking a 37-32 lead at the break.
But UE started to crumble when Mammie picked up his fourth foul at the 3:04 mark of the third canto and FEU gamely pounced on, uncorking a decisive 24-10 run in the next six minutes to completely turn the tables around with a 74-60 edge.
From there, the Warriors could only move within nine points as the Tamaraws held their grip on the lead.
Quotable Quotes:
Nash Racela: “At halftime, I reminded the boys to be patient and I’m happy they trusted me. They understood the gameplan. Terrence really played well but it was a total team effort.”
Terrence Romeo: “Sabi ko nga sa mga previous interviews, ibang Terrence Romeo ang makikita niyo ngayon.”
