Kiefer Ravena of Ateneo tries to shake off Chris Eximiniano of FEU. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
ATENEO and Far Eastern University seek the first twice-to-beat bonus in the Final Four when they break their tie for the lead on the penultimate day of the eliminations in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Tied on top at 10-3, the Blue Eagles and the Tamaraws collide at 2 p.m. with odds even after Ateneo barely slipped past FEU in the first round, 81-78.
“What’s important right now is we understand that we have to be in another level; [play at] a higher level,” said Ateneo coach Bo Perasol. “I know that we can. I believe that we can, that’s why we’re here.”
The loser gets another chance at the semifinal bonus against the winner of today’s second match at 6 p.m. between defending champion La Salle and National University, both with 9-4 records.
Tickets are sold separately for the blockbuster double-header.
“We want to treat it as a regular game—we play relaxed but focused,” said NU coach Eric Altamirano. “We can’t come in tight.”
Today’s results will greatly affect the bid of all four teams. The Eagles and the Tamaraws can either go as high as No. 1 or drop as low as No. 3, while the Archers and the Bulldogs can climb to No. 2 or even crash out of the Final Four.
The loser in the La Salle-NU match will go down to No. 4, but will be far from assured of a semifinal stint since idle University of the East, running fifth at 8-5, remains in contention.
If the Warriors win over the eliminated University of Santo Tomas Tigers on Tuesday, they would forge a playoff for the last Final Four slot with either the Archers or the Bulldogs.
Going by their first-round showdown, the matches may turn into a double thriller as the Archers also won by just a bucket over the Bulldogs, 57-55, in the first round.
Thus, FEU coach Nash Racela wants his Tamaraws to regain their sharp form after surprisingly getting dumped by the Warriors, 94-71, last week.
“We’re starting to lose grip of the teamwork that we had,” Racela said after the huge loss snapped the Tamaraws’ seven-game winning streak. “So I said, we’ll start to refocus and we must bring back the things that we were doing before.”
As Mike Tolomia and Mac Belo try to lead the Tamaraws anew, MVP shoo-in Kiefer Ravena made it clear he wants his Eagles to go the full distance.
“We talked about it, that we want to go all the way and we’re one step closer to it,” said Ravena. “Our goal is to go for the top two. We put ourselves in a very good situation. We have to focus and dig deep in our last [elimination] game.”