The FEU Tamaraws managed to escape the NU Bulldogs, 76-72. Center Reil Cervantes led the Morayta quintet with 20 points, 6 rebounds and a block. They stay on the number one spot with a 2-0 record while the opposing team goes down to 1-2.

FEU lead by as much as 7 points but Kokoy Hermosisima’s accurate three-point shooting enabled the Bulldogs to close down on them and eventually steal the lead a number of times during the second half. For a while, it looked like NU would pull an upset win when they downed the Tams by 6 points 4 minutes on the clock. A 9-point run sparked by sophomore RR Garcia turned things around, giving a three-point lead to the Yellow shirts. National U tried to recover by fishing a foul less 10 seconds left on the clock. Their attempt,  however, did not work as Hermosisima failed to convert his gift shots into points.

If for the last couple of years the Bulldogs have been tagged as chronic cellar dwellers (along with UP), this year whoever x’s them out as a possible F4 contender is definitely blind. NU’s acquired some good freshies in Glenn Khobuntin and Emmanuel Mbe plus they also still have Mervin Baloron, Jewel Ponferanda, Joseph Terso and Hermosisima. National’s got a competitive and talented team however; their youth may force them to make critical errors during the end game like what happened today against the Tamaraws. Still, expect team to make their presence felt this season and improve (greatly) their Season 73 record of 3 wins and 11 defeats.

NOW FEU…

Our turnovers almost caused us the game. During the first half alone the Tams already had six turnovers. It’s a good thing that our defense stayed tight for a bigger part of the game. NU could’ve converted those turnovers into points. FEU also lacks a consistent three-point shooter. The main reason why the Bulldogs were able to gain a big lead were those Hermosisima 3-pointers (the other one being them challenging our guys on man-to-man defense). Sure almost every one from the team can shoot from beyond the arc but not during the time when we need it the most. Consistency, that’s something that we need.

THE POSSIBILITIES…

Right now I’m eyeing FEU, ADMU, NU and AdU to get into the Final Four. DLSU and UP are my wild cards. FEU will get number one, Ateneo will get number two, and NU and AdU on three and four. It’s still early to close things down on other teams. I think Season 74 will be pretty much dynamic. Changes will still occur (I’m actually waiting for UP to step up) and we just got to watch them as they happen.

AND BEFORE I END THIS…

UAAP commissioner Ato Baldonato suspends three referees who officiated the Ateneo-Adamson game last Thursday, July 15. Dominique Pomar, Lucio Dela Torre and Glen Cornello are suspended for two days due to “some bad calls” during the said game. The Eagles won the tiff only by three points, 69-66.

MY SAY…

It’s the right thing to do. They (referees) should be careful with their calls all the time. Bad officiating has been a persistent problem for the league. It robs teams and players opportunities to win. Some games are loss because of it.

Suspending the three is the correct thing to do but the damage has been done. The calls were already made and someone already won the game. I don’t want to continue because I can sense that I’ll start ranting. Let’s just hope that the games will be played fairly and that this (“some bad calls”) will not happen again. May the Heavens hear me.

 

July 19th, 2010 by reichmakayan Rachell Makayan is a 2008 graduate of the FEU-IN. A former sports writer of The Advocate. The product of an Ilocana mother and a Bicolano father (but trust me she doesn't know how to speak both provinces' dialect). The only FEU alumnus in her family, she constantly finds herself fighting over her mom, dad and sister every time the Tams plays the Warriors (Of course, she wins most of the time).