Baby Tams advance to Final Four

Far Eastern University-Diliman (FEU-D) secured a spot in the Final Four of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 88 junior high school basketball tournament with a wire-to-wire 100-79 victory over De La Salle Zobel on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Dwyne Enriquez delivered his best performance, finishing with 34 points, six rebounds, six assists, and five steals to lead the Baby Tamaraws to a 9-3 record in third place to keep their hopes alive for a twice-to-beat advantage.

Later, Adamson University, now 7-5 and in fourth place and a half-a-game lead over idle University of the East, stayed alive in the Final Four race with a 76-41 rout of the University of the Philippines Integrated School.

The Baby Tamaraws, who led by as much as 70-49 off Enriquez’s jumper with 4:32 left in the third quarter, briefly let up, allowing the Junior Archers to creep back into the game.

Lorenzo Purugganan, Isaac Purugganan, John Mindanao, and Jose Asis combined for a 12-0 run to cut the deficit to nine, 61-70.

However, Enriquez, Griffin Barlan, and Prince Cariño quickly responded, giving FEU-D a comfortable 78-62 cushion heading into the final period.

The margin proved insurmountable as FEU-D extended its lead to its biggest of the game, 98-73, on Cariño’s jumper with 2:19 remaining and coasted to the final buzzer.

“We need to get this game and the other two remaining games,” said Baby Tamaraws coach Muriel Garcia. 

“We need to climb up. Our last two games are big games. Actually, if there will be a step-ladder, there will be no advantage. Unfortunately, we lost to NUNS.”

Cariño posted a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Andrei Chavez and Prince Pineda added 16 and 13 points, respectively, for FEU-D that swept La Salle this season after posting an 80-65 win in their first-round meeting last 1 October.