Bautista, Tacatac attract attention

Bautista, Tacatac attract attention | Daily Tribune

Jorick Bautista of Far Eastern University (FEU) and Tacky Tacatac of University of Santo Tomas (UST) displayed their prowess as they came up with stellar performances for their respective teams in Season 87 University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.

The 5-foot-11 Bautista had been a revelation for the Tamaraws after posting 19.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.5 steals in their two victories from 12 to 19 October that prompted him to emerge as UAAP Press Corps Player of the Week.

He bested teammate Mo Konateh in a close vote, Kevin Quiambao and Mike Phillips of De La Salle University, Andrew Bongo of Ateneo de Manila University, and Francis Lopez of University of the Philippines (UP) for the weekly recognition.

In a nip-and-tuck battle against Adamson on 12 October, Bautista pumped in 21 points to lift the Tamaraws to a 76-72 win.

Bautista’s clutch ways didn’t stop there as he drilled the dagger trey in the Tamaraws’ 65-58 triumph over National University (NU) on16 October when he finished with 17 points as FEU rose to 3-6, winning back-to-back games and three of its last four, good for fifth place in the standings.

“We’re so happy because as Royce (Alforque) said, all of our hard work in training is now starting to bear fruits. It’s really nice to finally bag this win,”said Bautista, who joined forces with Alforque in crunch time to carry the Tamaraws.

Meanwhile, Tacatac used her outside sniping prowess to help lead UST to an 84-57 win over UP on 13 October and a 77-73 win over Ateneo on 19 October, giving them a second-best 8-1 win-loss record.

Tacatac, who edged out teammate Bridgette Santos, NU’s Cielo Pagdulagan, FEU’s EJ Lopez, and Adamson’s Elaine Etang for the weekly citation, shot an impressive 9-of-15 or 60 percent from beyond the arc during those games combined where she sparked with 17.5 points in just 20.5 minutes of action.

The fifth year guard shot 5-of-7 from downtown and 7-of-13 overall against UP to finish with 23 markers with two steals to boot, and then went 4-of-8 from the three-point area to score 12 against Ateneo plus two rebounds and two assists for good measure.