Top-seeded Far Eastern University (FEU) squandered a 16-point lead before warding off University of the East (UE) in overtime, 83-77 in the UAAP Season 73 men’s basketball tournament on Sunday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
The Tamaraws scored 11 against the Warriors’ five in extra minutes to get back on track after Adamson ended their win streak last week.
It was the Tamaraws’ first season sweep of the Red Warriors since 2004.
After being down by as many as 16 points, the Red Warriors came back with Paul Zamar almost singlehandedly lifting UE before turning it over to Paul Lee and Raphy Reyes in the final quarter.
Erwin Duran scored on a putback off a huge offensive rebound to tie the score at 72-all with time down to 1:27 in the fourth.
The Warriors had a chance to fashion out a comeback win for the ages as Lee beat Ping Exciminiano and drove inside and dished out Reyes, but the latter missed a point-blank stab that could have given them the win in regulation—which ended at 74-74
In overtime, Reil Cervantes hit a turnaround jumper over Duran then picked up a loose ball by Lee that he dunked for good measure. The four-point binge gave FEU a 78-74 lead it would not relinquish.
Ryan Garcia led the Tamaraws with 23 points and Cervantes, who is celebrating his birthday on Monday, added 19. National player Al Ramos added a quiet 13 points to the FEU effort.
Ken Acibar had 18 points apiece and hauled down a game-high 20 rebounds on top of three blocks, while Zamar also had 18 points for UE, which fell to 2-6.
Reyes and Lee added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Acibar’s board total was the most since former University of Santo Tomas Tiger Jervy Cruz pulled down the same number against UE in a match in 2008.
-Rick Olivares
