The FEU Tamaraws hope to continue exceeding their own expectations as the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament eliminations approach its homestretch.
From a string of heartbreaks that started their UAAP Season 87 campaign, the FEU Tamaraws have steadily made up for lost ground throughout Round 2 of the men’s basketball elimination rounds.
The Tamaraws currently hold a 4-7 record as of writing, surpassing their three wins from Season 86 in 2023. FEU also shares an identical record with the Adamson Soaring Falcons, and only trail the fourth-seeded UST Growling Tigers (5-6) with three games left in eliminations.
In eclipsing their Season 86 record, FEU has already surpassed one of its initial goals under rookie head coach Sean Chambers. Now, this core looks to continue a productive year as Season 87’s elimination rounds begin to wrap up.
“Our goal was, this Season [87], was that to show progress, we wanted to first win more than three games from last year. So after that, now we want to get greedy. Now we want to get five, six, seven games now,” FEU head coach Sean Chambers said after the Tamaraws beat the UE Red Warriors on Sunday.
“So that’s our goal now. We want to continue to show this kind of performance for the rest of the season, which I think we’re capable,” he said.
The Tamaraws on Sunday defeated the Red Warriors 59-51 a week after they braved a stomach illness against the Growling Tigers. Pre continued his scoring tear with 20 big points against UE, while veteran Jorick Bautista added 12 markers of his own.
Janrey Pasaol poured in seven points, four assists, and four rebounds, while Konateh pulled down 11 boards for the Morayta-based squad.
But Chambers was the least surprised about their performance. After all, the Alaska legend has long believed in their maturity heading into Round 2 of eliminations. If it wasn’t for their stomach illness, then the Tams’ breakout game could have even taken place earlier, against the Tigers last October 27.
“For this game, we were healthy, we were practicing well, and I told them yesterday, I expect this to be really our true breakout game where we’re gonna be, right? I said this yesterday, I said we’re gonna be solid from start to finish. And that’s what we were, that’s what I expected,” said Chambers.
“So I’m so proud of these guys. I’ve been kind of tough on them in practice, but I explained to them is now the amount of time that we’ve been together. I truly love them all like they’re my own sons. So if I love them, it’s my job to hold them accountable and not let them go the soft route, don’t go the easy route.”
FEU is set for a rematch with defending champs La Salle on Wednesday, November 6 at the Mall of Asia Arena, followed by the Ateneo Blue Eagles on November 9 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The Tams will then close out eliminations against the UP Fighting Maroons on November 16 at the FilOil EcoOil Arena in San Juan.
Heading into their La Salle match, Chambers urged his wards to match the “winning plays” that stars Kevin Quiambao and Mike Phillips bring to the Green Archers.
“We have to match that. We’ve been showing the guys it’s really the extra effort, the extra energy that Quiambao plays with and that Phillips plays with. So we have to be willing to match it. But if you go back to that first game [against La Salle], we were leading by one point multiple times in the fourth quarter.
“And we had some shots that we liked. If those would have went in, who knows where that would have went. So we’re going to show up with the mindset that if we play our game, we have a chance to win that game.”
Banner image courtesy of the UAAP Media Bureau.