Altas, Blazers aim to stay on hunt for semis slots

MANILA, Philippines – Perpetual Help and St. Benilde shoot to stay inside the magic four in the hotly contested Final Four race as the two face off with resurgent Letran and an unpredictable Lyceum, respectively, on Wednesday in the 90th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

Tied with idle Jose Rizal at third spot with 6-4 (win-loss) slates, the Altas battle the Knights at 2 p.m. and the Blazers tackle the Pirates at 4 p.m., gunning for a victory that will keep them in the top four.

Perpetual Help is riding the crest of a 65-60 win over Lyceum last Saturday and downed Letran, 85-82, in its first round meeting on Aug. 8, making it the prohibitive favorite in their duel.

Perpetual Help Aric del Rosario knows Letran is a different team from the first time they played since the latter won two straight following victories over league-leading San Beda, 64-53, on Aug. 13 and Jose Rizal, 84-77 in overtime Friday.

"Letran is starting to play confident, which makes them more dangerous," said Del Rosario in Filipino.

For Letran coach Caloy Garcia, whose recent pair of wins kept his team in the Final Four hunt with a 4-6 card, playing Perpetual Help is like playing against themselves.

"Perpetual Help is just like us. They don't have bigs, they're all-Filipino, they have strong wing men. So playing them is like playing ourselves," said Garcia, who steered the Knights to the finals last season before losing to the Lions.

St. Benilde mentor Gabby Velasco, for his part, is expecting Lyceum to play physical and rugged.

"We have to be physically and mentally prepared against a team like Lyceum, who always play tough," said Velasco, whose charges outdueled the Pirates, 86-77, in the first round on Aug. 2.

Perpetual Help's Harold Arboleda and Juneric Baloria and St. Benilde's Juan Paolo Taha and Mark Romero are expected to show their wares after the four were drafted in the PBA rookie draft over the weekend.

Arboleda was tabbed by Talk N' Text in the second round and Baloria by Blackwater Elite in the third while Taha and Romero were picked by Kia Motors in the third round.