FEU guard Jorick Bautista during a game against Ateneo in UAAP Season 87.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Far Eastern University found itself at the bottom of the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament standings after five consecutive losses to begin its campaign.
But the Tamaraws’ record doesn’t necessarily reflect the way they have been challenging the rest of the field. And Far Eastern looked like a team that just needed something to break its way for a breakthrough triumph.
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It finally caught one Sunday night at the expense of Ateneo, 66-65, behind the late-game heroics of sniper Jorick Bautista.
SCHEDULE: UAAP Season 87 basketball
“Hopefully, [this is the start of our rise] because this feels good,” Bautista told the Inquirer in Filipino after catching fire in the fourth quarter and overtime to pave the way for the Tams.
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“Our confidence is really high for the coming games and the second round, which is a big help for us,” he added.
In Far Eastern’s early defeats, only one team came away with the win conclusively: University of the Philippines (UP), which is the only squad this season with a still unblemished record.
Rookie-laden
The Fighting Maroons whipped the Tamaraws, 69-58, and became the model for rookie coach Sean Chambers found and his rookie-laden roster.
“[Coach Sean] has been using [the Maroons] as an example because they are disciplined and composed when they play, which is something that we need to … at least match so we can be [successful] like them,” Bautista said.
It took some time for Chambers to get a win under his belt but he never doubted his wards. In fact, he always believed that the Tamaraws would eventually become a threat in some way or another.
“Moving forward, we’re gonna be a problem for every team in this league. Just look at our last game, and I truly believe that,” he told the Inquirer as he took responsibility for their slow start.
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“It’s not the players, it was me. I had to realize how hard we really have to play, how hard we have to prepare so as to understand the level of competition and how hard everybody was playing compared to [their stints in preseason tournaments],” the former Alaska import in the PBA said. INQ