Falcons, Tamaraws eye share of second

MANILA, Philippines - Far Eastern and Adamson seek a share of second place with University of Santo Tomas and University of the East as they slug it out in the 72nd UAAP basketball tournament at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

La Salle and University of the Phils., meanwhile, shoot for their first win after dropping their first two matches in the other contest at 2 p.m.

After dropping a 59-63 setback to reigning champion Ateneo last July 12, FEU smothered La Salle, 65-51, last Saturday while Adamson edged UP, 72-68, to bounce back from a 75-76 loss to UST.

The FEU-Adamson duel is set at 4 p.m.

Against Adamson, FEU coach Glen Capacio said they couldn’t afford to be complacent.

“Skills and our system are not our problems. It’s actually all mental because the players have the tendency to be overconfident,” said Capacio. “We can’t do that against Adamson because we know they’re capable of beating any team.”

However, Adamson mentor Leo Austria said they need to dish out their A-game to beat the pre-season favorite.

“FEU is the team to beat so we need to play harder,” said Austria, hoping to steer the Falcons to their first Final Four since 2006.

The Archers, meanwhile, are out to prevent their worst start since losing their first three games in their first season in the UAAP 23 years ago.

Losing last year’s key players JV Casio and Rico Maeirhofer and parading six rookies, the Archers fell to the University of the East Warriors, 45-64, on opening day before absorbing a 14-point loss to the Tams last week.

“We’re running away from the things we’re supposed to do. We’re not executing well, we have no problem with defense, our problem is execution,” said La Salle mentor Franz Pumaren.