History was made at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City as the Far Eastern University Tamaraws takes their 20th basketball title as they tamed the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers 67-62 in a thrilling game three finals for the 78th season of the UAAP.
It was an intense game between both squads as the do or die game three of the finals begins with a neck and neck race for the Tamaraws and the Tigers. UST shows off that they still have the momentum from winning game number 2 leading early in the first period, but FEU responded quickly at the end of the opening period as they were able to trim the deficit down to a single point 19-18.
The second quarter was a sloppy one for both squads as FEU and UST were only able to produce an 12-11 output to end the first half tied at 30, entering the second half momentum was slowly shifting to the side of the Tamaraws as they were able to outscore UST in the third period taking a 51-46 lead at the end of the period.
UST entered the final 10 minutes of the season with a huge 16-0 run since the third period to take a huge 57-51 lead over the Tamaraws, but FEU regains their composure to turn things around as they were able to take the lead back at 61-59 with less than three minutes left in the game. UST kept their hopes alive as they were able to closed in at 64-62 with just 11 seconds left in the game, but the Tamaraws were able to seal Championship number 20 for FEU.
Ray Mark Belo was named the Finals MVP after showcasing exceptional performance in the finals series, Belo produced 23 big points along with Roger Pogoy and Mike Tolomia who produced 14 and 13 points respectively to bring the championship title back to Morayta. Belo, Tolomia, Pogoy, Inigo, Tamsi, Russell Escoto ended their UAAP Career leaving a mark in the history not only of FEU Basketball, but also in the league.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Graduating Tigers Ed Daquioag and Karim Abdul scored 21 and 12 points respectively. Kevin Ferrer, who scored 29 points in the game 2 of the finals only managed to score 6 points for the Tigers.
Belo 23, Pogoy 14, Tolomia 13, Tamsi 6, Ru. Escoto 5, Inigo 3, Jose 2, Orizu 1, Arong 0, Dennison 0, Ri. Escoto 0, Trinidad 0.
Daquiaog 21, Abdul 12, Lee 9, Ferrer 6, Lao 6, Vigil 6, Bonleon 2, Faundo 0, Huang 0, Sheriff 0.
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