MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATED) Far Eastern University (FEU) put together its first winning streak of the season by holding off National University (NU), 90-83, in the UAAP Season 80 men's basketball tournament on Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum.

Arvin Tolentino came up huge for the Tamaraws with 23 points and six rebounds, and hit the running lay-up with 68 seconds left that sealed the deal for the host school.

The Tamaraws thus won their second straight game, and improved to 3-2 to rise to solo fourth in the league standings.

The Bulldogs, meanwhile, suffered their second straight loss to drop to 2-3.

"It was a hard-fought win," said FEU coach Olsen Racela. "Mabibigat 'yung mga kalaban namin (this week), so we needed this win badly. Compared to our past games, I think we played more consistently this game."

"We didn't start slow, and na-sustain namin 'yun for 40 minutes," he added.

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The Tamaraws were in control for most of the game, though the Bulldogs rallied to tie it at 39 with 2:37 left in the second quarter thanks to an and-1 by Ronnel Lastimosa.

But the Tams ended the first half on the stronger note, as they unleashed a 9-2 scoring run to finish off the quarter. Tolentino was instrumental in the run, knocking down a three-pointer then completing an and-1 to give FEU a 48-41 lead at the break.

FEU continued to pour it on in the third period, as they easily broke the NU press and repeatedly found the open man. Tolentino, again, was the beneficiary of most of the extra passes that the Tams whipped around in the perimeter. His triple with 3:43 left in the third quarter gave FEU its biggest lead, 70-55.

"We just shared the ball," said Tolentino, the Season 77 Rookie of the Year who transferred to FEU from Ateneo de Manila University. "Marami kaming open looks dahil sa pag-share ng bola."

NU, however, refused to succumb easily. Three-pointers by Dave Yu and Matthew Aquino helped them trim the lead to eight points, 76-68, and gave them some momentum heading into the final quarter.

Veteran NU guard J-Jay Alejandro took over in the fourth frame for the Bulldogs, as he scored their first nine points of the quarter including a banked-in triple that made it a seven-point game, 84-77, with still 3:21 left.

The Bulldogs came to within five points, 81-86, with two minutes to play off a bucket by Nico Abatayo. But Issa Gaye fumbled a pass off a pick-and-roll with Alejandro in the next possession, and Tolentino punished them by scoring off a runner in the lane for an 88-81 FEU lead with 68 seconds to play.

A lay-up by Alejandro with 53 seconds left again cut the deficit to five, 83-88, but the Bulldogs never got any closer as Matt Salem bricked a triple in the ensuing possession, and Kenneth Tuffin's lay-up on the other end iced the victory.

"This was a good win for us," said Tolentino, who shot 7-of-17 from the field, including 3-of-8 from beyond the arc. "Ito 'yung mga crucial games namin, kasi gusto namin umangat sa standings."

Axel Iñigo added 12 points, Barkley Eboña contributed 10 points, and transferee Jasper Parker had his best game yet with nine points, five rebounds, and three assists in the win.

Meanwhile, Alejandro scored 23 points for the Bulldogs, but Matthew Aquino, with 13 points, was the only other NU player in double-digits. Gaye finished with eight points and nine rebounds, but the Bulldogs' transition game faltered as they scored only 12 points on the break, and forced only 15 turnovers.

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