Paul Lee found the perfect time to explode as University of the East surprised a distracted Far Eastern University squad, 84-74, on Saturday to force a rubber match in their UAAP basketball tournament Final 4 encounter at the Araneta Coliseum.

The veteran spitfire unloaded six three-pointers to finish with a career-high of 26 points as the Red Warriors won a semifinal game for the first time since 1998 after a series of disappointing losses.

“People always find ways to frown on what we’re doing especially when we were losing but after seven straight wins gumaling ang sistema ko,” said UE coach Lawrence Chongson, who shrugged off criticisms thrown at him after taking over the coaching reins this season.

Lee erupted for 14 points in the game's final six minutes as UE broke away from a slim 69-68 deficit with 6:31 to play to set the stage for a one-game playoff for one of the Finals berths on Thursday, also at the Big Dome.

The PBL's first-ever best player of the conference winner shot 10-of-24 from the field and went on a fiery shooting after bungling 12-of-14 shots in the first half. Lee also had eight rebounds and seven assists in 30 minutes.

Veteran Pari Llagas had 19 points and 17 rebounds while Val Acuna added 17 as the Recto-based dribblers shot 43-percent from the field and hauled down 51 rebounds.

The Tamaraws got 22 points from Paul Sanga and 16 from first-year guard RR Garcia but failed to nail down the first finals berth in the absence their star guard, Mark Barroca.

FEU officials doused cold water on the issue of Barroca being under investigation as they announced that Barroca has left the team and is now “under the care of the Smart Gilas National Team.”

“He won’t play (for the rest of the season). We stand by our decision and if this is our fate then we will accept it,” said FEU team manager and UAAP president Anton Montinola, while skirting away from the real issue.

Minutes before tip-off, the school released a one-page, one-sentence statement confirming his absence from Saturday’s game.

“With the objective of improving team chemistry, the FEU Tamaraws have decided to play our Final Four game today without Mark Barroca,” the statement said.

The scores:
UE 84 — Lee 26, Llagas 19, Acuna 17, Espiritu 8, Reyes 6, Lingganay 4, Ayala 3, Tagarda 1, Zamar 0, Acibar 0.
FEU 74 — Sanga 22, Garcia 16, Ramos 12, Cervantes 8, Noundou 5, Cawaling 5, Manalo 4, Knuttel 2, Eguilos 0, Caluag 0.
Quarters: 25-18, 37-38, 62-55, 84-74.