Streakin’ FEU seeks playoff seat vs UP

Games today (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

2 p.m. – UP vs FEU

4 p.m. – UST vs AdMU

MANILA, Philippines - Rampaging Far Eastern U guns for at least a playoff for a Final Four berth against lightweight University of the Philippines even as Ateneo eyes its eighth win versus beleaguered University of Santo Tomas today in the UAAP Season 77 men’s basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

After racking up their fifth straight victory at the expense of the defending champion La Salle Archers, 74-70, last Wednesday, the pacesetting Tams (8-2) seek to close in on the semis with a routine win against the Maroons (1-9) at 2 p.m.

The Blue Eagles (7-3), meanwhile, aim to bounce back from their 66-76 setback to National U last week and boost their own Final Four bid in the 4 p.m. encounter with the Tigers (5-5).

FEU coach Nash Racela had left the country to attend to his duties with Gilas Pilipinas in Spain but the Tams, who will be momentarily handled by assistant Eric Gonzales, are confident they can sustain their charge.

“Itutuloy lang namin yung sistema na iniwan ni coach. Tingin ko naman kaya naming i-maintain (We have a system in place and we just have to continue playing to it),” said FEU ace Mike Tolomia.

Coach Rey Madrid will be back to call the shots for the Maroons after getting thrown out of their game against UST for vehemently protesting a perceived non-call. Commissioner Andy Jao gave an apologetic Madrid a reprieve but warned him of future sanctions for a similar offense.

“I will just accept his apology,” said Jao, who has summoned Madrid to his office today at 11 a.m. “I will advise him a repetition of his action would be the final straw.”

Meanwhile, Blue Eagles mentor Bo Perasol said his wards can’t afford to start flat like they did against the Bulldogs and a number of other games and just expect to rally and steal the win in the end.

“I’ve emphasized to them we have achieved nothing yet to act that way.

I think they got the message and I hope it will reflect on the kind of game we’ll play against UST,” said Perasol.

An Ateneo victory will mean one foot on the door for the Eagles and one foot on the grave for UST, which is struggling to cope with injuries to Kevin Ferrer and Ed Daquiaog.

“It won’t be an automatic win (going up against a struggling team like UST). We still have to play them, exert effort because they really would want to get a win against us. We have to work doubly hard,” said Perasol.

The Tigers kept their F4 hopes live with a 77-65 win over UP to catch up with University of the East at fifth, two games behind joint second Ateneo, NU and La Salle.

“Kailangang manalo na kami every game so one game at a time kami. Basta we work hard at yung puso andoon, yung kasi ang nawawala sa amin. Against Ateneo, kailangan doble effort kami (We have to win our remaining games so we’ll take it one step at a time. We just need to work hard and show heart, which was missing in our previous games. We need to double our efforts against Ateneo),” said UST’s Bong dela Cruz.