FAR Eastern University ushered in its post-Veejay Pre era by leaning on familiar faces to stave off University of the East, 74-57, in the PlayTime Cares 18th Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup presented by ABC Tile Adhesive Thursday at the PlayTime Filoil Centre in San Juan.
Jorick Bautista, Jedric Daa, and Janrey Pasaol conspired for the Tamaraws’ 22-point fourth quarter where they enjoyed a lead as big as 20 points, 72-52, thanks to their sizzling 8-of-30 clip from distance and for a moment, showed that the Morayta side is just fine even after the departure of the UAAP Season 87 Rookie of the Year.
“Veejay is our family. These are his brothers and we’ll continue to support him, but for us, it’s next man up,” said coach Sean Chambers, addressing the elephant in the room while focusing on the players he still has on hand.
Bautista paced FEU with 18 points built on a pair of treys, to go with four dimes, Daa added 14 points and five rebounds, and Pasaol added seven points, six assists, four boards, and four steals.
“I really feel that we have the most talented guards here in the league since they are playing here at a high level,” remarked Chambers.
University of Santo Tomas also had a solid debut in the premier preseason league, fending off National University, 75-71.
Gelo Crisostomo stepped up for the Growling Tigers with 17 points and seven rebounds as Nic Cabañero and Kyle Paranada had 12 points each for their opening win in the tilt which has PlayTime Cares, Filoil, EcoOil, Hanes, Bostik El Heneral, Jiang Nan Hotpot, Lamtex Pipes, Smart, and Puso Pilipinas as major sponsors, and Harbor Star, Wallem, Akari, BDO, Tela.com Athletics, Nature’s Spring, Reyes Barbecue, and Brothers Burger as minor sponsors.
Jolo Manansala captained the Bulldogs with 10 points in the defeat.
John Abate led UE with 22 points in a losing effort under the tutelage of new head coach Chris Gavina.
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