FEU Tamaraws men's basketball

FEU Tamaraws
2015 FEU Tamaraws men's basketball team
League	UAAP (1938 - present) NCAA (1924 - 1932)
Founded	1924
Location	Sampaloc, Manila, Philippines
Team colors	Green      and      Gold
Head coach	Nash Racela
Championships	21 UAAP (1938, 1939, 1947, 1950, 1956, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2015) 3 PCCL (2004, 2005, 2015)
Website	www.feu.edu.ph

The FEU Tamaraws men's basketball is a collegiate basketball varsity team of the Far Eastern University based in Sampaloc, Manila. FEU currently holds the record of winning the most number of championships (20 titles) in the men's basketball division of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. FEU also appeared in the Philippine Collegiate Championship finals four times, and was able to win back to back championships in 2004 and 2005. The team originally played in the NCAA from 1929 to 1936 and was one of its founding members. Nash Racela is the team's current head coach.

History

Williams, Capacio and the 80's

1981 MVP Anthony Williams led the Tams to its first three-peat, from 1979 to 1981, including a back to back 12-0 eliminations sweep in 1980 and 1981. The unbeaten Tamaraws played the rival UE Warriors in the 1981 UAAP Finals. UE rookie Allan Caidic, missed two free throws and FEU captured their third straight title and the most coveted three-peat to give the Tams its 12th overall title. FEU did not make it to the finals in 1982, but the team was able to come back in 1983, led by season MVP Glenn Capacio to their fourth title in five years. Abarrientos joined the seniors team two years after leading the Baby Tamaraws to its juniors' basketball title. Victor Pablo along with Abarrientos led the Tams back to the finals after six years, matching with the DLSU Archers, a team who just joined the league couple of years back out of NCAA. The Archers were victorious, with Eddie Viaplana's three pointer with sixteen seconds remaining sealed the Archers' first UAAP title with the score of 74-69.

Arwind Santos era

Arwind Santos started his UAAP career in 2002 alongside future PBA standouts Mark Isip and Dennis Miranda. The Tamaraws failed to make it to the Final Four that year after losing to UST for the last Final Four slot, though Santos won season's Rookie of the Year award. It was a quick turn around for the Tamaraws the following year as it garnered its first title in six seasons with a sweep against the Ateneo Blue Eagles. Santos won the season MVP for the first time in his college career on his third year with the Tamaraws, and was selected to the mythical team together with teammate Dennis Miranda. That same year, the team tried to defend its title, but the Tams lost to the Archers in a three-game series. With Miranda's departure in 2005, rookie point guard Jonas Villanueva filled in for his role. Santos came back for his final year despite of issues that he will be entering the PBA draft. With the core of Santos, Mark Isip, RJ Rizada, Jonas Villanueva and Jeffrei Chan, FEU won its 18th title overall after a sweep against the DLSU Archers. Later that year, with the controversies surrounding the Archers, the title was awarded to the Tams giving them the three-peat from 2003-2005.

The Santos-led Tamaraws also won back-to-back championships in the PCCL during 2004 and 2005 beating the UE Red Warriors and San Sebastian Golden Stags respectively, making them the best collegiate team in the Philippines.

Baracael, Barroca era

With Santos, Isip and Rizada departing due to graduation, the Tamaraws are expected to defend their championship with Jeff Chan and Jonas Villanueva returning for their final playing year. Rookie Mac Baracael is also expected to fill Santos' shoes for the team. With DLSU suspended for the whole Season 69, every team will only play 12 games. The defending champions had a slow start losing their first four games but managed to win four straight. But FEU finished the season winning only a single game in their final four games and failed to enter the Final Four.

Due to the team's dismal performance in Season 69, FEU has planned to bring the Baby Tamaraws core of Socrates Rivera, Mark Lopez, Aldrech Ramos and Ian Sanggalang to represent the men's basketball team for Season 70 but Rivera and Lopez decided to play for the UP Fighting Maroons and Sanggalang went to San Sebastian-Recoletos. This prompted the school to elevate most of its players from Team B along with Ramos and Baby Tamaraws key holdovers JR Cawaling and Jens Knuttel. Mac Baracael, JR Guerilla and Benedict Fernandez are the only players left from last year's team. The Tamaraws had a rough start in the first round but managed to win four games in seven outings. In the middle of the season, Guerilla was caught selling his game that lead to his dismissal from the team. They forced a playoff for the 4th Final Four spot against UST but lost and for the second straight year, FEU failed to qualify in the Final Four and JR Cawaling was named the Rookie of the Year.

In Season 71, FEU emerged as a "dark horse" team in the tournament. With point guard Mark Barroca's emergence, the team had a 2-1 start until Mac Baracael was suddenly shot by an unknown by-stander outside the campus. Rumors swirl that Baracael denied to "sell his game" as the reason why the incident happened. Even with Baracael out, FEU continued their run. Thanks to Barroca, Benedict Fernandez, Reil Cervantes and Aldrech Ramos' improved play, the team was recognized as a title contender for the season. Baracael returned after 5 games and the Tamaraws finished 3rd in the standings with a 10-4 record. The Tamaraws returned and faced the DLSU Green Archers in the Final Four with a twice-to-beat disadvantage but failed to force a do-or-die game.

FEU hosted Season 72 and the plan was the team to capture the title. With Mac Baracael and Benedict Fernandez graduating, the Tamaraws recruited scorer RR Garcia to boost its back court rotation. The Tamaraws emerged as champions during the Pre-Season tournament sponsored by Fil-Oil Flying V with Garcia taking home the MVP trophy. FEU finished with an 11-3 record only losing their games to UE and Ateneo including the battle for the number 1 seed. Entering the Final Four, Mark Barroca was suddenly removed from the team's roster. It was unclear what was the reason for Barroca's departure but reports said that the playmaker was involved in game-fixing issues. The Barroca-less Tamaraws played the Paul Lee-led UE Red Warriors as the number two seed but was defeated twice and finished in 3rd place in the tournament once again.

Garcia, Romeo Era

FEU recruited Baby Tamaraws superstar Terrence Romeo and gave the Tamaraws a solid back court that helped the team earn a trip to the finals. FEU defeated DLSU, 69-59 in overtime to enter the Finals. Ateneo and FEU met in the championship, which rekindled its match up dating back in 2003. Ateneo won that time, including a 72-49 blow out during the first game, and a hard fought second game with Ryan Buenafe's three pointer late in the fourth quarter ended FEU's title hopes. RR Garcia was named the Season MVP and Romeo took home the Rookie of the Year honors.

In Season 74, The Tamaraws hired former coach Bert Flores after Glenn Capacio called it quits. They also recruited former Baby Tamaraws and RP Youth players Mike Tolomia and Russell Escoto. FEU finished third and a final four slot with a 9-5 record. They were matched with Adamson, their first post season match up since the final four era started. Though Adamson carries a twice to beat advantage, FEU's post season experience put them back to the finals against the Ateneo Blue Eagles, their third finals match up in eight years. Ateneo would sweep the series, giving them their fourth straight title.

Season 75 was a lost season for the Tamaraws. Despite winning their first four games, FEU did not make it to the Final Four. It was a string of losses for the Tams as they lost three straight games to end their season; the first being with the Archers when they are guaranteed to have a twice to beat advantage with a win. The second was against the Bulldogs' 84-81 victory in overtime after a controversial 77-75 win was ordered to be re-played by the UAAP Boards because of the "inconclusive and unclear" video evidence of RR Garcia's buzzer beating layup. Another loss came from the hands of the Archers, when they battled for a fourth-seed playoffs. The Tams led as many as ten points in the fourth quarter with six minutes to go but came up short to earn a final spot in the Final Four.

In Season 76, FEU made a major revamp not only on their roster, but their coaching personnel as well. The Tamaraws hired former San Beda Red lions coach Nash Racela and assigned former coach Bert Flores as the team's consultant. FEU great Johnny Abarrientos was retained as Assistant Coach while Gilbert Lao and Josh Reyes were added as Racela's deputies. The team dropped Arvie Bringas and added Josh Aguilon, Christian Lee Yu and Jason Delfinado who were key players from last season's Juniors Champions FEU-FERN Baby Tamaraws. The team was supposed to add Jerie Pingoy as well but the Juniors MVP, who led the Baby Tamaraws to the championship decided to go to Ateneo, where currently is serving the controversial 2-year residency rule. FEU also lost athletic big man Russell Escoto to a knee injury occurred during their game in the PBA D-League. The Tamaraws swept the first round but struggled in the second round. The Tamaraws managed to finish with a 10-4 record and they qualified in the Final Four where they will face the DLSU Green Archers as the third seed after losing to the Green Archers as well for the battle for the number two seed. Terrence Romeo was named the Season 76 Most Valuable Player. In their Final Four showdown against the Green Archers, the Tamaraws led most of the game. However, they cannot stop a furious fourth quarter rally from DLSU and they were eliminated with a score of 71-68. FEU finished third overall in the tournament. Despite the loss, Terrence Romeo promised to improve more and play his final year for the Tamaraws in Season 77. However, As RR Garcia played his last year, he decided then to join 2013 PBA rookie draft. After a week, Terrence Romeo surprised the tams as he declared that he will join the rookie draft despite of having one more year of eligibility to play with the Morayta based squad.

Back to Championship Form

The Tamaraws were expected to struggle in Season 77 with the exit of Terrence Romeo and Russell Escoto missing the remainder of the season due to injury but they managed to adjust during the off-season. With Romeo gone, role players like Mike Tolomia, Mac Belo, team captain Carl Bryan Cruz and RR Pogoy got the opportunity to step up to fill the void left by Garcia and Romeo when it comes to scoring. It seemed to be the team had a good chemistry and the results were unexpectedly good and surprised the basketball analysts. Achie Inigo and Francis Tamsi also stepped up. FEU managed to win 10 games in 14 outings and settled for a second place finish and will be facing the De La Salle Green Archers in the Final Four. La Salle forced a do-or-die semifinal when they defeated the Tamaraws 94-73 in the first game but in Game 2 winner-take-all match, Mac Belo drained a three-pointer as the buzzer expired and the Tamaraws advanced to the Finals, 67-64. FEU faced the National University Bulldogs for the championship. Russell Escoto returned but had limited minutes. They managed to win Game 1, 75-70 but Alfred Aroga, Troy Rosario and Gelo Alolino were too much to handle and they succumbed Games 2 (62-47) and 3 (75-59) for the Bulldogs to win the championship. Mac Belo was included in the Mythical Team. It was FEU's third 1st runner-up finishes in 4 years.

Before the start of Season 78, the Tamaraws were picked by the analysts to win the championship because of their intact roster and good team chemistry. New additions Monbert Arong will provide scoring and defense off the bench while big man Prince Orizu who plays center, gives FEU a complete lineup that can match some of the schools who have big imports. FEU lacked size in Season 77 that's why they lost in the finals with NU's Alfred Aroga dominating the paint. With Tolomia, Belo, Escoto, Pogoy, Inigo, Tamsi and Dennison playing their last year for the team, the Tamaraws started strong and were consistent up until the end of the eliminations losing only to the UST Growling Tigers twice and defending champion NU Bulldogs. FEU also had a big game in their last match of the eliminations and let their bench players play all through out but still managed to defeat the De La Salle Green Archers that kissed their Final Four hopes goodbye. They finished 11-3 along with league-leader UST and placed second in the standings due to quotient rules. FEU faced the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the Final Four and knocked them out in the first game via another Mac Belo put-in buzzer. The Tamaraws met the UST Growling Tigers in the Finals. FEU won the first game via 75-64 blowout. On Game 2, UST tied the series via Kevin Ferrer's 28-point performance in the third quarter that led to a 62-56 win. Come the do-or-die game, the Tamaraws went on a late run in the last two minutes and route to a 67-62 come-from-behind win to claim the title that they last achieved in UAAP Season 68. Mac Belo was named UAAP Finals MVP and it was coach Nash Racela's first title ever since he took over the reins in Season 76.

The Tamaraws reclaimed the crown in the then-PCCL National Collegiate Championship after they beat the CESAFI Champions University of San Carlos in the semi-finals. Due to scheduling conflicts, they were crowned co-champions with the San Beda Red Lions.

Rivalries

UE Red Warriors

Main article: Battle of Morayta

Crosstown rivals UE and FEU, aside from being at the same metro area, have the most number of championships, with FEU winning 20 while UE has 18 to tie it with UST. The last postseason meeting between the two took place at the Araneta Coliseum on September 24, 2009 as UE drove their way to the finals via upset with the score of 78-72.

DLSU Green Archers

Since 1994, these two teams have met in the postseason nine times, which five of them were in the finals with FEU leading the series three games to two after the 2004 DLSU title being given to FEU, to learn that two of DLSU players were ineligible to play. Another DLSU title was handed to FEU in 1991 when a player who got disqualified in the game was seen on the court for six seconds which resulted to a protest. DLSU did not show up to a replay ordered by the UAAP Boards and was later awarded FEU the trophy.

Season-by-season records (1992-present)

	Champion
	Runner-up
	Third-placer
DNQ	did not qualify
*	Trophy was given to FEU

Year	GP	W	L	PCT	Results
Alfredo Amador (1992-1996)
1992	14	11	3	.785	defeated DLSU in a play-off, 101-87; defeated Adamson in the Finals, 69-59, 94-83
1993	14	8	6	.571	UST was awarded as champions after a 14-0 sweep during eliminations
1994	12	7	5	.583	Lost to DLSU in the semifinals 65-63
1995	14	9	5	.642	Lost to UST in the semifinals 65-76, 74-68
1996	14	4	10	.285	DNQ
1992-96	68	39	29	.573
Danny Gavieres (1997-1999)
1997	14	11	3	.785	defeated UP in the semifinals 69-70, 70-69; defeated DLSU in the Finals 62-60, 65-64
1998	14	11	3	.785	defeated UE in the semifinals 68-81, 83-61; lost to DLSU in the Finals 72-47, 63-59
1999	14	9	5	.642	Lost to DLSU in the semifinals 91-69
1997-99	42	31	11	.738
Koy Banal (2000-2004)
2000	14	9	5	.642	defeated Ateneo in the semifinals 60-61, 67-75; lost to DLSU in the Finals 67-64; 74-65
2001	14	8	6	.571	Lost to Ateneo in the semifinals 67-63
2002	14	6	8	.428	DNQ
2003	14	11	3	.785	defeated UE in the semifinals 67-63; defeated Ateneo in the Finals 65-83, 53-69
2004	14	11	3	.785	defeated UE in the semifinals 71-64; lost to DLSU in the Finals 51-58, 67-57, 65-68*
2000-04	70	45	25	.643
Bert Flores (2005-2006)
2005	14	12	2	.857	defeated UE in the semifinals 78-57; defeated DLSU in the Finals 75-73, 73-71
2006	12	5	7	.417	DNQ
2005-06	26	17	9	.653
Glenn Capacio (2007-2010)
2007	14	8	6	.571	Lost to UST on a fourth seed playoff 80-69
2008	14	10	4	.714	Lost to DLSU in the semifinals 67-62
2009	14	11	3	.785	Lost to UE in the semifinals 74-84, 78-72
2010	14	12	2	.857	Won against DLSU in the semifinals 69-59 in overtime; lost to Ateneo in the Finals 72-49, 65-62
2007-10	56	41	15	.732
Bert Flores(2011-2012)
2011	14	9	5	.642	defeated Adamson in the semifinals 49-59, 72-78; lost to Ateneo in the Finals 82-64; 82-69
2012	14	9	5	.642	Lost to DLSU on a fourth seed playoff 69-66
2011-12	54	35	19	.648
Nash Racela(2012–present)
2013	14	10	4	.714	Lost to DLSU in the semifinals 71-68
2014	14	10	4	.714	defeated DLSU in the semifinals, 73-94, 67-64; Lost to NU in the Finals, 75-70, 47-62, 59-75
2015	14	11	3	.785	defeated ADMU in the semifinals, 76-74; defeated UST in the Finals, 75-64, 56-62, 67-62
Eliminations	332	222	110	.668	19 Final Four appearances
Postseason	56	29	27	.518	11 Finals appearances
Total	388	251	137	.648	6 Championships

Retired numbers

FEU Tamaraws retired numbers
N°	Player	Position	Tenure
19	Arwind Santos	F	2002-2005
14	Johnny Abarrientos	G	1989-1992

Team accomplishments

Team accomplishments
UAAP Championships
1938, 1939, 1947, 1950, 1956, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2015
UAAP Final Four appearances
1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015
PCCL Championships
2004, 2005, 2015

Claimed UAAP titles

The Tams appeared 31 times in the finals, including losses from seasons 1946, 1948–49, 1951 to UST, 1954 and 2014 to NU, 1960 to UE, 1989, 1998 and 2000 to DLSU, and seasons 2010-11 to ADMU. 20 of which they were crowned as champions. FEU and UST were heralded as co-champions during the 1947 season, and three teams - UP, FEU and UST were named as champions in 1939.

UAAP Final Four

Main article: UAAP Final Four

PCCL

Main article: Philippine Collegiate Champions League

Current Roster

FEU Tamaraws roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight Playing yr. High School PG 4 Trinidad, Jose Allen C. 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 155 lb (70 kg) 1st G/F 5 Tamsi, Al Francis M. 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) – 5th Bohol IT - Jagna PF 6 Jose, Raymar A. 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 4th Arellano PG 7 Dennison, Ron Marvis C. 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) – 3rd UV PF 8 Escoto, Russel D. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 4th FEU Diliman C 9 Eboña, Kevin Barkley C. – – 1st Cebu IT PG 10 Comboy III, Wendelino T. 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 1st FEU Diliman SF 11 Holmqvist, Steve M. 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1st PF 12 Belo, Rey Mark G. (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 5th St. Mary's - Midsayap SG 13 Tolomia, Christian Michael S. 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 5th FEU Diliman PG 15 Arong, Monbert D. 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 5th USP G/F 16 Pogoy, Roger Ray B. 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 5th UC C 17 Orizu, Prince I. 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) – 1st Ikeja HS PG 18 Iñigo, Alejandrino Antonio Jr. S. 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 145 lb (66 kg) 4th Letran C 20 Holmqvist, Ken S. – – 1st SF 21 Escoto, Richard D. 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) – 1st FEU Diliman	Head coach Nash Racela Assistant coach(es) Johnny Abarrientos Ronald Magtulis Michael Oliver Gilbert Lao Joshua Reyes Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Awards and honors

Rookie of the Year

• Mark Victoria - 1996
• Leo Avenido - 1999
• Arwind Santos - 2002
• Ricardo Cawaling - 2007
• Terrence Romeo - 2010

Most Valuable Player

• Joselino Roa - 1961
• Anthony Williams - 1981
• Glenn Capacio - 1983
• Johnny Abarrientos - 1991
• Arwind Santos - 2004, 2005
• RR Garcia - 2010
• Terrence Romeo - 2013

Finals MVP

• Nestor Echano - 1988, 1992
• Arwind Santos - 2003, 2005
• Mark Belo - 2015

Defensive Player of the Year

• Arwind Santos - 2004, 2005

Sportsmanship Award

• Jeff Chan - 2006

Mythical Team members

• Francisco Santos - 1954
• David Ligeralde - 1954
• Bayani Amador - 1954
• Victor Pablo - 1989, 1991
• Andy de Guzman - 1989
• Johnny Abarrientos - 1991
• Celino Cruz - 1999
• Leo Avenido - 2001
• Dennis Miranda - 2004
• Arwind Santos - 2003, 2004, 2005
• Mark Isip - 2005
• Jeff Chan - 2006
• RR Garcia - 2010
• Aldrech Ramos - 2009, 2010, 2011
• Terrence Romeo - 2012, 2013
• Mark Belo - 2014

Mythical Second Team members

• Antonio Relosa - 1954
• Celino Cruz - 2001

Retired numbers

• 14
• 19

PBA 25th Anniversary All-Time Team

• Johnny Abarrientos