MANILA, Philippines - The race for the Final Four reaches fever pitch today with defending champion La Salle, University of the East and National U gunning for crucial victories in the UAAP Season 77 men’s basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Green Archers (9-3) shoot for a semifinal berth and a triple tie for first with Final Four qualifiers Ateneo and Far Eastern (10-3) at 2 p.m. against a UE team (7-5) that’s making a serious bid to salvage a spot in the next round.
The fourth-running NU Bulldogs (8-4), meanwhile, try to firm up their hold of the No. 4 spot versus also-ran University of Santo Tomas (5-7) in the other matchup.
If the Bulldogs win and the Warriors lose, the semis cast will be complete with NU and DLSU joining AdMU and FEU.
La Salle is contending for a shot at a Top 2 and twice-to-beat advantage.
“We have two games left (against UE today and NU on Saturday), we just have to make the most out of those two opportunities and whatever happens, wherever that will take us, it’s something we have to accept,” DLSU coach Juno Sauler said.
Sauler anticipates a tough grind against the Warriors, who face a must-win situation in an effort to crash the F4. The Archers also committed a whopping 36 turnovers last time against the always pressing UE, making Sauler wary.
“Whether or not they need to win, it’s always gonna be tough playing against UE. They’re long, they’re quick, and we know they’ll put pressure for 40 minutes. I think we set a record in terms of turnovers against them so we have to try to take care of the ball a little bit more,” he said.
The Warriors are riding the crest of a three-game roll, including victories over NU (64-55) and FEU (94-71).
“We can’t be too happy with our recent wins, we’re still trying to catch up. We’re still right behind NU and we just have to take control of our destiny. We’re playing a tough La Salle team so we have to be ready for them,” said UE mentor Derrick Pumaren.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs seek to boost their semis drive against a Tigers pack that’s out of it all but could play the spoiler’s role.
“When we play UST, they will play with nothing to lose, in contrast we need that win so it’s important we play our game and we don’t think about anything except our game,” said NU mentor Eric Altamirano.
“Hindi kami dapat magpabaya, kailangan pa rin naming manalo para mapakita ang pride ng Tomasino na hindi kami bibigay basta basta hanggang dulo (We can’t roll over and die, we still need to show Thomasian pride in winning and fighting it out til the end,” Tigers coach Bong dela Cruz was quoted by UST’s student publication The Varsitarian.