MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws secured the 4th seed, and the victory over the Adamson University Saoring Falcons, 71-54, on Saturday, November 11, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Soaring Falcons lacked the offensive contributions of Jerrick Ahanmisi who went down with an injury in the first quarter. Jerie Pingoy followed with a left ankle injury from his clash with Jasper Parker in the last frame.

This allowed the Tamaraws to outscore the Falcons throughout the game and exact revenge from their round 1 matchup. 

FEU’s win completed the final 4 of the UAAP Season 80 Men’s Basketball tournament, eliminating the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons. 

The Tamaraws managed to cut through Adamson’s defense that held them down to only two points with 6 minutes remaining in the first quarter. Hubert Cani’s turnaround jumper nabbed the lead for FEU at the 2:03 mark (12-11).

Robbie Manalang went back-to-back to tie the score twice, but Barkley Eboña clutched a basket before the buzzer that saw the Tamaraws leading at the end of the first. 

Pingoy’s triple and Kristian Bernardo’s and-1 play allowed the Soaring Falcons to tie the score at 28-all in the second period. 

Tyrus Hill then made a statement once again with a monster jam off a pass from Nico Paranada with 4:38 left in the first half. 

Nasty, nasty slam by Tyrus Hill! #UAAPSeason80 pic.twitter.com/bdm8NHaz71

— ABS-CBN Sports (@abscbnsports) November 11, 2017

Jasper Parker managed to split his charities to get ahead by one point, and Kim Bayquin’s first bucket this season allowed the Tamaraws to lead by 3 points entering halftime. 

The Tamaraws pulled away the lead in the second half with Adamson’s defense failing to limit FEU’s hot shooting especially from the 3-point range. 

Arvin Tolentino led the Tamaraws with 14 points and 5 rebounds. Richard Escoto followed with 11 points and 8 rebounds, 3 of which are offensive. 

Manalang topscored for the Falcons, tallying 15 points, while Papi Sarr chipped in 10 points and 7 rebounds, failing to record his usual double-double statistic. 

The Scores

FEU (71) – Tolentino 14, Escoto 11, Orizu 10, Parker 9, Comboy 9, Inigo 7, Cani 5, Trinidad 2, Ebona 2, Bayquin 2, Dennison 0, Tuffin 0.

AdU (54) – Manalang 15, Sarr 10, Camacho 7, Lojera 4, Ochea 4, Bernardo 4, Espeleta 3, Pingoy 3, Hill 2, Ahanmisi 2, Paranada 0, Manganti 0, Zaldivar 0.

Quarter Scores: 19-17, 35-32, 52-44, 71-54. 

– Rappler.com