MANILA, Philippines (6th UPDATE) – Oh Romeo, my Romeo!
Staring at another Final Four meltdown, the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws found their hero in Rookie of the Year Terrence Romeo, who willed the team to the UAAP Finals with an emotional 69-59 overtime win against fourth-seed De La Salle Green Archers on Thursday.
In front of raucous crowd inside the Big Dome, Romeo played like a veteran in overtime making one big shot after another, flattening the Archers’ upset bid.
The 18-year-old guard, who once scored a league record 83 points in the UAAP juniors, strung up 5 straight points that wiped out a La Salle two-point lead.
After Joseph Marata sank his only three-pointer in 10 attempts to give the Archers a 59-57 lead, Romeo buckled down to work.
Romeo pulled up for a jumper at the elbow to tie the game, 59-all, and after a La Salle miscue at the other end, he went for the killer trey that gave the Tamaraws a 62-59 advantage heading into the final 2:06 in overtime.
Romeo’s big shot sent tremors to the young Archers, who suddenly panicked, after controlling most parts of the game.
Reil Cervantes and Paul Sanga, who sent the game to overtime with a long triple in the final 30.9 seconds of the regulation period, iced the contest at the stripes.
“Grabe yung pusong ipinakita niya sa larong ito. Ibang (Terrence) Romeo na ang makikita niyo sa Finals, said FEU coach Glenn Capacio, who finally steered the Tamaraws into the Finals in his fourth season as a head coach.
Romeo more than made up for RR Garcia’s sub-par game with 12 points on top of 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
Garcia, the league’s MVP, was hounded by the pesky La Salle defense all game long, forcing him to shoot 5-of-19 from the field as he finished with only 11 points, 6 points below his 16.8 average.
“I’m happy for Terrence (Romeo). Talagang nag-step up siya. Hindi ako maka-shoot kasi nasa akin ang focus ng depensa nila (La Salle). Kaya sabi ni coach, maging decoy lang ako at mag-create para sa teammates ko,” Garcia said.
Almost given up for dead, the Tamaraws rose from the grave to survive the Archers.
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| Terrence Romeo (Photo by Jerome Trio) |
FEU, which trailed by nine midway in the fourth period, bucked the ejection of JR Cawaling in the second period and a technical foul issued on Capacio in the third canto, to get into the Finals outright.
Cawaling’s football tackle on La Salle’s Simon Atkins led to his ejection in the 4:27 mark of the second period with the game tied at 22-all.
The Smart Gilas standout, who might sit out Game 1 of the Finals, got an unsportsmanlike foul for tackling Atkins. He also got a technical foul for pushing Atkins and a referee, who tried to pacify him during the height of the drama.
After Cawaling's ejection, the Tamaraws lost control of the game, and the Archers went on an 8-0 blast that gave them a 30-22 lead. La Salle was ahead until the overtime.
“I’m happy for the boys, though I’m not happy with the officiating. The boys showed great character out there,” said Capacio, who was called for a technical foul for his outburst during the third quarter on what he perceived was a questionable call.
The Tamaraws were assessed with 29 fouls compared to the Archers’ 21, which led to a disparity of 16 free throw attempts. The Archers shot 18-of-36 at the stripes while the Tamaraws went 12-of-20.
FEU, which is in the Finals for the first time since beating La Salle in 2005, awaits the winner of the other Final Four match between second seed and defending champion Ateneo Blue Eagles and third seed Adamson Falcons.
The Eagles and Falcons will square off on Sunday with the former holding a twice-to-beat advantage.
The Scores:
FEU 69 – Romeo 12, Sanga 12, Garcia 11, Ramos 9, Cervantes 9, Noundou 8, Mendoza 2, Bringas 2, Exciminiano 2, Knuttel 2, Cruz 0, Cawaling 0.
DLSU 59 – Webb 15, Mendoza 7, Atkins 7, Tolentino 6, Marata 6, Dela Paz 5, Vosotros 2, Tampus 2, Villanueva 2, Paredes 0, Ferdinand 0.
Quarters: 20-12, 26-32, 40-44, 55-55 reg., 69-59 OT.
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