Games today:
Cebu Coliseum
4 p.m. – Mapua vs. FEU
6 p.m. SWU vs. UV
Terrence Romeo showed Cebuano basketball fans why he’s one of the best collegiate players in the land as he sank an improbable three pointer with a second remaining in overtime to lift the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws to a 79-78 win over the Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras and capture the championship in the Mayor Mike Rama Collegiate Invitational last night at the Cebu Coliseum.
Down one with just seconds remaining, Romeo trotted upcourt, stepped back and sank a high-looping three pointer over SWU’s Adam Mohammed with a second remaining. With no timeouts left, Mark Jayven Tallo was forced to throw up a hail mary that missed at the buzzer, giving FEU the victory.
Romeo, arguably the most popular player in the UAAP, topped the Tams with 18 while Mike Tolomia added 16. Gryann Mendoza and Mark Belo added 15 each.
SWU got 26 from Landry Sanjo while Tallo added 18.
It was a sorry loss for the Cobras, who appeared to be on the verge of upsetting the Tams as they led 78-74 after a three by Mohammed with 39 seconds remaining.
But they collapsed as they turned the ball over and fouled Belo, who made the freethrows to trim the deficit to two. Sanjo then missed his freebies on the other end but SWU still gained possession as the ensuing looseball scramble ended up in a jumpball.
However SWU still lost the ball as its inbound play went out of bounds leading to Romeo’s heroic possession.
The first game saw the University of the Visayas get past Mapua, 74-69, behind the go-ahead three pointer of John Abad with 29 seconds remaining.
Even if FEU loses to Mapua and SWU wins against UV today that will lead to a tie at the top with 2-1 (win-loss) records, the Tams will still emerge champions because they already beat the Cobras.