The Tamaraws lost to the Archers in the first round of the eliminations for their first loss of the season. After climbing to 5-1, FEU fell flat once again when they absorbed a painful down-to-the-wire loss to Ateneo last week.
The Green Archers will also come off a stinging loss when they face the Tamaraws in the main game at 4 p.m. La Salle dropped to 4-3 at the close of the first round after a humiliating defeat against University of the East.
But the UE win over La Salle last Saturday is no fluke because the Red Warriors, a young, rookie-laden team under rookie coach Dindo Pumaren, came back stronger the other day to deal Ateneo its first loss after a first-round sweep.
The Red Warriors sport a 5-3 record, standing in between the Tamaraws and the Green Archers.
Like FEU and La Salle, Adamson is still reeling from a string of setbacks. After going strong at 3-1, the Falcons have gone on a terrible skid, losing three straight matches to UE, Ateneo (where they led by as many as 20 points) and Santo Tomas.
Making matters worse for coach Luigi Trillo’s Falcons is the absence of starting point guard Ramil Tagupa who suffered an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury on his right knee in the game against Ateneo.
Tagupa will be out for the rest of the season, his absence being felt each game. The NU Bulldogs, winless after seven games, are expected to pounce on the recent Adamson misfortune in a bid to score a breakthrough win this season.