By Dugout Philippines
FEU-FERN had to play ten more minutes before delivering a 68-65 upset win against NU in their UAAP juniors basketball clash at the Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City.
The Baby Tamaraws held the Bullpups scoreless in the final 1:35 of regulation as Marvin Lee found Christian Fajarito for the two-pointer with 34 seconds left and Arthur Harrow for the game-tying three at the buzzer to force the first overtime.
The game remained close in the first extension, and FEU-FERN only held to a 58-56 advantage with 18 seconds left after a follow-up from Lee.
The Baby Tams had a chance to seal the win as Mark Dyke missed his two free throws that would have tied the game.
But Ricky Peromigan missed two charities of his own, and Angelo Peñano scored a buzzer-beating field goal to extend the match to another five-minute period.
FEU-FERN tried to finally pull away in the final two minutes of the second overtime as Lee fired a triple to extend its lead to four, 65-61.
But Jordan Sta. Ana kept the game interesting as he split his free throws to cut the lead to three with 50 seconds remaining.
Lee missed a triple as shotclock expired.
But John Clemente misfired on a layup on the other end, and Lee bounced back by making two free throws to stretch the gap to five with only seven seconds left.
Dave Camaso then fired a quick triple off the inbound to trim the Baby Tams' lead to two, 67-65.
The Bullpups got another chance to force another overtime as Brandrey Bienes only made one of two free throws after a quick foul.
But they failed to convert in the next play as time expired.
Lee led the Baby Tamaraws with 25 points, nine rebounds, two assists, three steals, and a block, while Fajarito added ten points, 15 rebounds, three steals, and two blocks.
Dyke had another monster game of 17 points, 18 rebounds, and four assists for the Bullpups, who suffered their first losing streak since winning 22 straight games dating back to last season.
Box Scores:
FEU-FERN 68-Lee 25, Comboy 10, Fajarito 10, Harrow 9, Aquino 6, Bienes 4, Peromigan 2, Ibañez 2, Longalong 0, Khatri 0, Lloren 0
NU 65-Dyke 17, Mina 9, Sta. Ana 8, Clemente 8, Manalang 7, Peñano 5, Camaso 5, Baltazar 2, Calma 2, Claveria 2, De Guzman 0, Ferreras 0, Callejo 0, Atienza 0
Quarterscores: 8-10, 20-28, 34-36, 52-52, 58-58, 68-65