SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines (1st UPDATE) — Back to reality.
Preseason champion University of the East suffered a rude awakening after falling prey to hard-fighting Far Eastern University, 88-79, in the opening game of the 76th UAAP men’s basketball tournament Saturday, June 29, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“The tournament is the real thing,” said rookie Tamaraws coach Nash Racela, who leaned on the brilliance of Terrence Romeo to upend the Red Warriors.
In what could be his best all-around game yet, Romeo dished out a splendid 23-point, 9-rebound, 12-assist, 2-steal stat line that helped the Morayta-based squad claw back from a double-digit deficit in the opening half.
“Coach told me to just follow the system,” the point guard said in Filipino. “I just tried to get my teammates involved and my offense followed.”
After starting out shooting just two of 9 from the field, Romeo made 6 of his 9 second-half shots while draining 5 of 6 free-throws as FEU doused cold water on the tremendous hype surrounding UE.
Former MVP RR Garcia connected from downtown thrice and finished with 18 points even as Anthony Hargrove (11 points, 6 rebounds) and Mac Belo (10 points, 7 rebounds) ably provided support.
It was a hard fall for the Warriors, who opened up flaunting the dominant form that had pundits install them as title contenders.
But UE’s defense floundered in the second half and after giving up just 32 points in the first 20 minutes, the Warriors allowed the Tamaraws to post 32 in the first 10:30 of the second half.
Roi Sumang was solid with 22 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals while rookie Ralf Olivares added 17 markers. The duo, however, shot a combined 12-of-35 from the field.
Big man Charles Mammie struggled with foul trouble all game long and finished with 7 points and 12 boards. – Rappler.com
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