FEU’s Veejay Pre. Photo from UAAP Media.

MANILA — Far Eastern University displayed an admirable effort against the University of the East on Sunday to keep their dream of entering the UAAP Season 87 Final Four alive.

The Tamaraws, winners of three of their last four games, stunned the Red Warriors via a 59-51 victory at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion to improve to 3-8, and once again leading FEU's charge was their super rookie Veejay Pre.

Coming off a 31-point career game in their previous game against the University of Santo Tomas, the young forward followed this with 20 points, nine rebounds, and a block.

READ: Veejay Pre shines anew as Tamaraws stun Red Warriors

However, the former Baby Tamaraw predictably downplayed his numbers, saying that he is simply showing hunger and grit now that the stakes are higher since they are in the second round. 

"Pagkatapos nga ng first round, sabi ni Coach Sean [Chambers] na mag-iiba kami sa second round," said the 6-foot-5, 19-year-old young star. "Sabi niya na magiging mas hungry na kami sa mga games."

"Kumasa lang ako, pero ang pinaka-main goal ko talaga ay makatulong and manalo every game. Naging motivation lang sa akin yung mga pagkatalo namin [against UST]. Pero yun nga, sabi ni Coach Sean sakin na: 'I believe in you,' at parang na-realize ko nga na kailangan ko mag tuloy-tuloy," he added.

It cannot be denied that Pre has taken his game up a notch in the second round of the men's basketball tournament, however. 

After averaging 11.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and half a block in Round 1, the rookie has raised his numbers to 14.0 markers, 7.5 boards, 1.5 dimes, and 0.6 rejections in 11 outings so far.

No other than his coach, the PBA legend and former Alaska superstar Sean Chambers, is in awe of how Pre is performing against the brightest hoopers of the UAAP. 

"Syempre, talaga, of course [he's the Rookie of the Year]," raved Chambers. "Honestly, you still have not seen the best of Veejay. Veejay is tremendous."

"And he's just still getting comfortable, he still hasn't 100% shown his complete batch, as we say. He can do so much more, and he's just getting there," added the legendary import.

With the number of praises that Chamber has for Pre, the Gilas Pilipinas deputy is confident that the sky's the limit for his young ace. 

"Hopefully, one day he's representing the country. I think Veejay is that talented," Chambers said of the former Gilas Youth member. 

"And I think he's the future of the UAAP, and the future of Philippine basketball, as well as other guys. But he's definitely that talented because he can shoot the three ball, and he can put the ball on the ground."

For Pre to live up to his coach's lofty expectations, Chambers pointed out how he must be able to develop a change in mentality when it comes to making plays for himself. 

READ: Chambers challenging Pre to be a 'take-charge kind of guy' after rookie's 31-pt outburst

"There are still some moments where, I can tell that he's looking for, what do you say, his kuyas to finish the play instead of him taking all the charge, but he's the future of the UAAP for sure," he said.