FEU coach Sean Chambers reacts during a game against UST in UAAP Season 87.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Far Eastern University coach Sean Chambers couldn’t be more proud of his team for battling until the end in a loss to University of Santo Tomas in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament.

Chambers revealed that two of his key cogs in ace guard Jorick Bautista and big man Mo Konateh soldiered on despite falling ill potentially due to food poisoning on the eve of their game against the Growling Tigers.

“Joric was in the hospital till four o’clock this morning, but he still came out here and battled today. So that’s what we want to be about. We want to be a team that’s resilient. We’re going to fight no matter what, no excuses. Although that sounds like an excuse,” Chambers told reporters after the 79-70 defeat Sunday night at Mall of Asia Arena.

“He had food poisoning. Same with Mo (Konateh). It’s like the whole team pretty much got pretty sick yesterday including myself,” he added, referring to his center Mo Konateh.

Bautista scored eight points on 3-of-11 shooting while Konateh was limited to four points and seven rebounds.

With his teammates far from 100 percent, fast-rising rookie Veejay Pre did the heavy lifting for the Tamaraws and dazzled with a career-high 31 points.

“If you’ve seen us in the summer, you know that that’s what Veejay is capable of doing. And it’s just a matter of him having a breakout game here in the league. But that’s what he’s capable of. Veejay is a different-level player, and he’s just still getting comfortable in the UAAP,” said Chambers. “The thing about Veejay, he’s a very humble kid. He’s a hard worker. He works and he listens and he’s disciplined.”

Despite tying Adamson and Ateneo outside the Final Four picture at 3-7, Chambers is still proud of his team’s resilience, which they will continue to show in their last four games in hopes of gatecrashing the semifinal round.

“I think one of the proudest that I am about this whole journey is that we have created a culture here right now that we battle all the way through the game we are resilient we don’t stop no matter what the score is we just keep fighting,” the FEU coach said.

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