Tamaraws shown door in loss to UP

MANILA, Philippines -- The FEU Tamaraws have been eliminated from Final Four contention of the 86th UAAP men's basketball tournament after bowing to the UP Fighting Maroons, 81-64, Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

In the process, UP strengthened its twice-to-beat advantage bid after bagging the crucial win.

The Maroons were simply too much for the Tamaraws, as they dominated both inside and outside.

Their lead grew to as much as 19, 66-47, in the 8:04 mark of the fourth quarter following a 3-pointer by Chicco Briones.

However, FEU rallied like it always does, cutting the lead to just 11, 70-59.

A Cyril Gonzales trey with less than three minutes remaining stuck the dagger to the heart of the Tamaraws, as well as their playoff hopes.

AldousTorculas provided the spark off the bench for the Maroons, finishing with a team-high 13 points.

Francis Lopez followed with 12 points and nine rebounds.

LJay Gonzales led the charge for the Tamaraws once again with 20 points. However, he shot only seven-of-22 from the field.

UP remained on top of the competition with a 10-2 record.

FEU dropped to a 3-9 slate, good for seventh in the tournament.