Baby Tams, with Burgos free throw, deal NUNS first loss
Marc Burgos sank the game-winning free throw as Far Eastern University-Diliman handed National University Nazareth School its first loss after a 79-78 decision in the UAAP Season 88 Boys’ Basketball Tournament on Sunday at the Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City.
After Shaun Lucido made a perfect trip to the free-throw line to tie the game at 78-all with 4.8 seconds left, the Baby Tamaraws ran a flawless play that saw Yosef Raneses toss an inbound alley-oop pass to Burgos.
The 6-foot-5 forward from Nueva Ecija didn’t convert the alley-oop, but he drew a shooting foul on Corian Cabantog with 1.1 seconds left. Burgos made his first free throw, missed the second and Raneses grabbed the offensive rebound to seal FEU-D’s comeback victory, bouncing back from a 71-90 loss to Ateneo de Manila University last Wednesday.
FEU-D rallied from a 76-69 deficit entering the final 2:47 before rising to 2-1 and tying the Baby Bulldogs.
Meanwhile, defending champion University of Santo Tomas notched its first win with a strong second-half performance for a wire-to-wire 79-70 victory over Adamson.
The Tiger Cubs opened the third quarter with an 11-2 run—capped by a Wacky Ludovice layup—to build a 57-38 lead, the Baby Falcons didn’t come close to overhauling.
“We’re happy to finally win one, especially after coming off two heartbreaking losses,” Santo Tomas coach Manu Iñigo said in Filipino.
Nigerian center Ola Ajani posted 12 points and seven rebounds, while Ludovice added nine points, three assists, two steals and one rebound.
Mac Jenodia led the Baby Falcons with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists. Kieff Iledan had 10 points and seven rebounds and Chrys Gomez and Jarl Artango added eight points each for Adamson.
