FEU hands UE 23rd straight loss

Far Eastern University spoiled Paulo Hubalde’s coaching debut with University of the East, scoring a 93-70 win in the UAAP Season 89 Collegiate Men’s Basketball Tournament on Saturday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Five Tamaraws scored in double figures, led by Gambian center Mo Konateh’s 15 points and nine rebounds.

Kirby Mongcopa also shone with a well-rounded performance of 13 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, and one steal.

“Clearly, it’s been a long two weeks and a very difficult two weeks for us. The way we had our collapse against Adamson was not what we wanted… There’s a tough conversation with the players and the staff… but our focus now is gonna be so much more on the process, we’re gonna focus on doing things the right way and the winning will take care of itself,” said FEU head coach Sean Chambers.

The Tamaraws, who fell a game short of reaching the Final Four last season, bounced back emphatically from their narrow 53-56 opening-day loss to the Falcons.

Already ahead by 14 points at halftime, the Tamaraws took full control of the game with a 22-15 third-quarter run that pushed their lead to 21, 65-44.

FEU’s lead ballooned to as high as 29 after Konateh put back a miss by Mongcopa with 2:51 left in the game, making it 88-59.

The Tamaraws notched their first win of the season to join four other teams in the middle of the standings with identical 1-1 records.

“Talo kami sa first game namin and alam ko sa sarili ko rin doon na sobrang tight ko maglaro. Inisip ko lang, marami pang games so pwede akong makabawi. Focus lang talaga kami,” said Mongcopa, who was held to just four points on 2-of-11 shooting in their 56-53 loss to Adamson University on opening day.

Reigning MVP Janrey Pasaol added 12 points, six assists, and two steals without committing a turnover in the blowout, while Jedric Daa chipped in 12 points and five rebounds.

Meanwhile, the coaching change early in the season has yet to yield results for the Red Warriors, who dropped to 0-3 and extended their losing streak to 23 games.

Former head coach Chris Gavina resigned from his post after going winless in Season 88 and dropping the first two games of the current campaign, prompting UE to name Hubalde, its 16-and-under tactician, as interim coach for the remainder of the season.

Tope Lagat led UE with 20 points and five rebounds, while Mo Tañedo made the most of his trips to the line, going 10-of-13 on free throws to finish with 16 points.

Gene Carillo also had 13 points, five rebounds, and five assists against four turnovers in the losing effort.

FEU will look to continue its winning ways on Wednesday at the same venue when it faces defending champion De La Salle University at 5:30 p.m. Earlier at 3 p.m., UE will seek to end its long misery against University of Santo Tomas.