FEU, San Beda escape close calls, advance to Final Four
Thursday, 3 December 2009 66 Comments
ALDRECH Ramos flexed his right bicep muscle with pride after blocking a left-handed lay-up by Paul Lee with less than 10 seconds remaining in the game.
It was a tight contest between two UAAP rivals in an Elite Eight matchup in the 2009 Philippine Collegiate Champions League. But, when the buzzer sounded, the Far Eastern University Tamaraws emerged victorious over the University of the East Red Warriors, 86-85 last Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at the Ynares Sports Center in Pasig City.
The Tamaraws led the Red Warriors for majority of the first three quarters. However, UE eventually grabbed the lead back after trailing the entire third quarter with a three-point basket coming from Elmer Espiritu at the 7:28 mark of the fourth quarter that put them up 68-66. A Paul Zamar triple with 4:00 remaining in the game gave UE its biggest lead in the final quarter at 79-71.
RR Garcia defended Paul Lee man-to-man throughout the entire game and tried his best to deny the crafty guard from receiving the ball. FEU managed to trim the deficit to four but, with less than two minutes remaining, Lee, one of the UAAP’s Mythical Five members, broke down the defense of Garcia with a blazing crossover to the left that caused the rookie to turn his back. Before Garcia could regain his defensive position, Lee spun left and used the glass with a short jumper to put UE up by six, 83-77. Not to be discouraged, Garcia responded with a cold-blooded three pointer to cut the lead to three.
On the next play, Lee was then fouled driving to the hoop where he converted two free-throws. FEU center Reil Cervantes offset those charities by converting two free-throws of his own. With UE hanging on to a three point lead, 85-82, Ramos tipped in a Chris Exciminiano fastbreak miss with 25.1 seconds remaining in the game. FEU immediately put on a full court defense and caused UE to succumb to the pressure. A UE pass was disrupted and the loose ball was picked up by Jens Knuttel who quickly found a cutting Garcia who fired a running jumper that gave FEU back the lead, 86-85.
Head coach Lawrence Chongson then used his final timeout with 17.5 left and put the ball in the hands of Paul Lee setting up that decisive rejection of the game by Aldrech Ramos who came from the weak side to swat away what could have been a potential game winning basket for UE.
The Red Warriors actually had another chance to win the game after Jens Knuttel missed two free-throws after being fouled with 5 seconds left. Pari Llagas grabbed the second Knuttel miss and found Lee across half-court. Lee subsequently whipped a pass to a streaking Val Acuña on the left side of the court. But, Acuña, who saw two yellow and green jerseys running at him decided in mid-air to switch the ball to his left hand, misfired and ignited an FEU Tamaraw celebration.
In the first game, the San Beda Red Lions eliminated the Mapúa Institute of Technology Cardinals in a close 77-75 win. NCAA Season 85 Most Improved Player, Jake Pascual led all scorers with 19 points. Sudan Daniel sat out the contest to rest an ankle he hurt after executing a dunk in their last game against San Sebastian Cavite.
The Elite Eight round of the 2009 Philippine Collegiate Championship resumes on Friday, December 2, 2009 at the Ynares Sports Center in Pasig City. UAAP champion Ateneo de Manila will take on the University of Sto. Tomas in the first game. Following that matchup, NCAA Champion San Sebastian College-Recoletos Stags will face the team that snapped their historic 15-game win streak in the NCAA Season 85 elimination round earlier this year, the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights.
The Scores:
First Game
San Beda 77 – Pascual 19, Gamalinda 17, Lanete 15, de la Rosa 9, Lim 7, Villanueva 6, Sorela 2, Caram 2, Soliman 0, Tecson 0.
Mapúa 75 – Mangahas 17, Guillermo 14, Ranises 9, Sarangay 7, Cornejo 7, Acosta 7, Parala 6, Stevens 5, Pascual 3, Cinco 0.
Quarter scores: 14-16, 31-33, 51-50, 77-75.
Second Game
FEU 86 – Cawaling 25, Sanga 18, Cervantes 12, Garcia 12, Ramos 9, Vinluan 4, Exciminiano 2, Knuttel 2, Noundou 2, Manalo 0.
UE 85 – Acuña 19, Lee 18, Zamar 18, Llagas 15, Espiritu 14, Flores 7, Sumido 4, Noble 0, Ayala 0, Duran 0, Reyes 0.
Quarter scores: 17-23, 49-40, 64-61, 86-85.
(6 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5)
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