UAAP: FEU eyes fifth straight win against slumping UST

Far Eastern University’s Kirby Mongcopa in action in UAAP Season 89. UAAP Media. MANILA — Far Eastern University stakes its hold on the top spot as it takes on University of Santo Tomas, while Adamson University and University of the Philippines clash with third place at stake on Wednesday in UAAP Season 89 men’s basketball at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao. 

Enjoying their best start in 11 years, the Tamaraws shoot for a fifth consecutive win when they face the Growling Tigers, who have lost their last two games, at 3 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Falcons, who have alternated wins and losses through their first five games, aim to notch their first winning streak of the season when they take on the Fighting Maroons at 5:30 p.m.

FEU holds a 4-1 record, ahead of National University, which sports a 4-2 slate. Adamson and UP share third place at 3-2.

Archrivals De La Salle University and Ateneo de Manila University are just outside the top four with identical 3-3 records, while UST sits in seventh place at 2-3.

When asked whether the Tamaraws have become a “giant” this season, head coach Sean Chambers was quick to dismiss the notion, pointing to their difficult matchups against UST and NU.

“No, not at all. What I told the guys in the locker room was that, ‘The two teams that have been the hardest since I’ve been here have been UST.’ They pretty much had our number, and I think we’ve only beaten NU once,” Chambers said.

Since Chambers took over in 2024, FEU has defeated UST just once, in the second round of last year’s eliminations.

All eyes will be on the matchup between the Tamaraws’ Mo Konateh and the Growling Tigers’ Collins Akowe.

Konateh is coming off a career-high 29-point performance in FEU’s 93-70 rout of Ateneo last Saturday.

“The message was, ‘Are we who we think we are?’ If we are, we’ll keep approaching the game in a businesslike fashion and keep executing what we do. With Mo [Konateh] and who we think he is, I think he’s the best FSA here, and he’s going to continue to get better from three years ago to what he’s doing now. There are just areas for improvement, but he has improved his game and is one of the smartest players out there,” Chambers said.

After an impressive 2-1 start, UST suffered a 28-point beating at the hands of Adamson before falling to NU on a game-winning three-pointer by Reinhard Jumamoy.

UP head coach Goldwin Monteverde, meanwhile, is looking forward to facing Adamson, which handed FEU its only loss this season and recorded the league’s biggest winning margin so far. The Fighting Maroons and the Falcons split their head-to-head meetings last season.

“Ever since naman when we play against any team, we would always prepare well, especially against Adamson. Time and time naman they’ve proven na their program is great, and they play well as a team. So, on our part, we need to work harder sa team defense and offense namin,” Monteverde said.

The Falcons face a challenging stretch to close out the first round, with a showdown against La Salle on Sunday following their clash with UP.

“It’s going to be a hard week for us, but it started in today’s game, so three games in seven days, and then we play the finalists of last year. I think both teams are trying to get momentum going to the end of the first round. Mas mahirap sila actually kalaban ngayon, talking about UP and La Salle, so we’ll see what we can do,” Adamson head coach Nash Racela said.

In the women’s division, defending champion UST aims to extend its perfect run to five games when it faces FEU at 10 a.m. Meanwhile, NU looks to return to the win column when it takes on the University of the East at noon.