ARVIN Tolentino came up with his highest scoring output of the season, hitting 24 points and grabbing six rebounds in carrying the Far Eastern University Tamaraws to a 90-83 triumph over the National University Bulldogs at the Araneta Coliseum.
The good showing of the 6’5” Tolentino came on a day coach Olsen Racela felt that the Tams were at their most consistent in the 80th University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament.
“Compared to our last game, we played more consistent in this game. We did not start slow. We sustained our game for 40 minutes,” said Racela.
Axel Inigo and Barkley Ebona also came up with double-digit games, making 12 and 10 points, respectively, in FEU’s third win in five games.
First, the Tams started pulling away on the charities of Prince Orizu and Ebona as they moved ahead from a 11-10 edge into a 17-10 spread in the closing minute of the first quarter.
The Tams’ outside shooting somehow rattled the Bulldogs at the end of the second period, with Tolentino banging in a trey and a three-point play for a 48-41 halftime FEU spread.
Tolentino came into the picture again, with his trey and a basket from Axel Inigo sending the Tams to a 63-49 spread with 5:28 to go.
The Bulldogs, with Jay Jay Alejandro firing 23 points, fell behind at 2-3.
They took a 17-point edge with 3:56 left on Tolentino’s three-pointer, 70-53.
Meanwhile, Matt Nieto shot 22 points for the solo-leading Ateneo Blue Eagles as they waylaid the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers, 94-84.
Nieto had seven points and joined hands with Isaac Go for 14 points in the second period as the Blue Eagles pulled away by 12 at halftime, 55-43, en route to their fifth straight win.
Games Saturday
(Araneta Coliseum)
2 p.m. La Salle vs UST
4 p.m. NU vs Ateneo