Tams battle Archers in KO match

MANILA, Philippines - Far Eastern U, the first team to reach the quarterfinals, and De La Salle U, the last squad in, head an eight-team cast looking to go deeper into the Filoil Flying V Hanes Pre-season Premier Cup playoffs.

The Tams, the Group B topnotchers and the only unbeaten squad at the end of the elims, and Group A No. 4 Green Archers, who grabbed the remaining Last-8 berth with a scrambling 66-61 win over rival Ateneo last Saturday, dispute a semifinal berth in their 4 p.m. quarterfinal.

San Beda College, which emerged the No. 1 team in Group A following Ateneo’s loss to La Salle, eyes a Final Four slot when it takes on Group B No. 4 University of the Philippines (UP) at 2 p.m.

Ateneo tries to regroup and move forward to the next round against Group B No. 3 Mapua at 11 a.m.

Capping the day’s heavy sked are Group B No. 2 Adamson and Group A No. 3 and defending champion San Sebastian College, which contest a semis seat in the 6 p.m. main dish.

“FEU remains a powerhouse, its core is still there and the Tams’ defense is solid,” La Salle coach Dindo Pumaren said. “They (Tamaraws) can go big, and they can go small.”

But tops on the Archers’ must-contain list are FEU guards RR Garcia and Terrence Romeo.

“RR is playing well and Romeo has shown tremendous improvement,” said Pumaren, hopeful that backcourt crew of LA Revilla, Almond Vosotros, Luigi dela Paz and Simon Atkins will hold their own against FEU’s vaunted guards.

La Salle’s forward, Norbert Torres, is a doubtful starter due to an injured left elbow he sustained during a bruising jockeying for rebounding position against Ateneo’s Frank Golla Saturday.

“X-rays showed no fracture. (But) he (Torres) will be on a day-to-day situation,” Pumaren told The STAR yesterday.

FEU barreled its way to the quarters but coach Bert Flores believes the real test for his team has yet to come.

“That (undefeated run in the elims) means nothing if we don’t get the job done in the knockout stages (quarters onwards). So we have to continue playing hard especially on defense,” he said.

Winner of the FEU-DLSU match will meet the victor of the Ateneo-Mapua duel in the semis while those who will emerge from the SBC-UP and AdU-SSC quarterfinal pairings will face off in the Final Four.