University of the Philippines staved off pesky Far Eastern University, 73-67, in the UAAP Season 85 men's basketball tournament, Saturday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Carl Tamayo took over again down the stretch, going on a personal 4-1 spurt to stretch a precarious one-point edge to a 70-65 lead with 2:05 left.
The Fighting Maroons' defense would then limit the Tamaraws to just two points the rest of the way.
"We got what we wanted compared to the last two games - starting off strong but we were not able to sustain it," said UP assistant coach Christian Luanzon. "This is one thing that Coach Gold always preaches, 'yung consistency ng all quarters. Good thing this is only the third game."
Tamayo unloaded eight of his 16 points in the payoff period, outscoring the whole FEU squad alone, 8-7.
Terrence Fortea reset his career-high with 17 points on a perfect 5-of-5 clip from downtown to go with four rebounds and two steals.
Malick Diouf chimed in 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Zavier Lucero added 10 points, four rebounds, and four steals.
The Fighting Maroons rose atop the leadership at 3-0 while keeping the Tamaraws winless in three outings.
Leading the way for FEU was Ximone Sandagon with 20 points on 8-of-8 shooting from the field with seven rebounds and a block.
Ljay Gonzales and Patrick Sleat had 11 points apiece in the losing cause with the latter grabbing 11 rebounds as well.
UP will go for four straight victories on Wednesday against National University at 1 pm.
FEU will close the quadruple-header against Adamson University at 6:30 pm.
The Scores:
UP 73 -- Fortea 17, Tamayo 16, Diouf 11, Lucero 10, Alarcon 8, Abadiano 7, Eusebio 2, Calimag 1, Torculas 1, Spencer 0, Ramos 0, Lina 0.
FEU 67 -- Sandagon 20, Sleat 11, Gonzales 11, Anonuevo 9, Bautista 7, Torres 5, Alforque 2, Celzo 2, Tempra 0, Tchuente 0, Guibao 0.
Quarters: 10-23, 41-42, 57-60, 73-67.