OF the participating teams in the Playtime Cares Filoil EcoOil 18th Preseason Cup, Far Eastern University put forth the biggest surprise early on.

The Tamaraws charged to a 2-0 record courtesy of convincing victories vs. UE and UST. What followed was their first taste of defeat at the hands of UP before they outlasted Adamson in overtime.

But all of that came crashing down after they took a week off from the premiere preseason tournament to participate in the Mayor Kirk Asis Open Invitational Basketball Tournament in Bayugan, Agusan Del Sur.

While the green-and-gold's Filoil schedule featured a game per week, at most, Bayugan saw them play five games in six days. They made it to the semifinals and ultimately took home second runner-up.

When FEU returned to the Playtime Filoil Centre in San Juan, they lost their last two games, including a crucial quartefinals qualifier against National U.

Many in-game factors can be pointed to for to their shortcomings in spite of such a strong start, but head coach Sean Chambers offered a simpler reason - fatigue.

As he put it, “It was such a long trip, and I felt like it still had some lingering effect on us. It is an excuse, and I don't want to make an excuse, but I felt like the trip in between our games had a lingering effect.”

After returning, Chambers prioritized rest and chose lighter practices to prevent overfatigue. However, the additional downtime left them underprepared to make a playoff push, especially with their last two matchups being heavy-hitters in La Salle and NU.

To make it clear, however, the handicap wasn’t exclusive to the Tamaraws. Of the five schools invited to Bayugan, four were back in action the following week as well.

Only the Growling Tigers logged a victory at the expense of the Red Warriors, while the Soaring Falcons and JRU joined the Morayta side in suffering blowouts.

Still, Chambers was thankful for the opportunity of playing for an entirely new crowd and added that better balancing of tournaments will be their key focus in the future.

“To me, we were playing excellent basketball until that point. We had some great games out there. I was a little proud with everything, but it seemed to have a lingering effect when we came back,” he added.

To be exact, FEU had untimely injuries to key contributors like Jedric Daa and Kirby Mongcopa, the former Juniors Finals MVP they just got back after a grueling two-year recovery from a leg fracture courtesy of a motorcycle accident.

Up until that point, the 6-foot-4 versatile forward averaged 4.75 points and 3.0 rebounds in four games.

According to Chambers, Mongcopa is at around 80-percent in terms of his health - and the good news is he can now focus on getting back to full strength just in time for UAAP Season 88 in September.

“His scoring abilities, his basketball IQ, he's just another threat on the court that's a hard matchup. We're hoping in two months' time that he'll be about 90 to 100-percent. He’s a big piece for us, no doubt about it,” he said.

Indeed, great expectations are in order for Mongcopa, a big piece to the puzzle if the Tamaraws were to repeat their suprise strong start come the UAAP itself.

And truth be told, he just may very well be the answer to the problem that arose due to the 'Veejay Pre-xit.'

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