AFTER GETTING blindsided in their meeting in the first round, reigning MVP RR Garcia made sure that it would not happen again as he led a furious rally by the Far Eastern University Tamaraws from 16 points down in the last eight minutes to edge the hard-luck University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, 59-53, in the 74th UAAP basketball tournament yesterday at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Maroons appeared poised for a repeat of their win over the Tamaraws in the first round as they led for most of the way and still held a 16-point advantage with 7:50 left in the match.
Then, Garcia woke up from his slumber as he scored basket after basket, eventually matching his career-high of 25 points.
Garcia made the game his own personal playground as he scored a total of 18 points in the final canto, and 14 of the Tamaraws’ last 16 points. He also anchored the game-deciding 24-2 run that broke the backs of the Maroons and their faithful. Correspondent Jonas Panerio