There may be no better way to cap the round than a victory against a fierce rival.
But that’s not the only thing fueling Ateneo and La Salle after what has been, so far, an unpredictable UAAP ride for the two fancied squads.
Although both teams remain inside the top four, there’s still no guessing which among their young crew will step up to support their team stars.
Kiefer Ravena has been on a do-it-all mission for the Blue Eagles and Jeron Teng has been likewise carrying most of the load in the Green Archers’ campaign.
“Everyone has to step up on being a leader,” said La Salle coach Juno Sauler. “It has to be everyone. It could be the 15th guy on the bench leading [and the rest] following whoever decides to take that lead.”
The blockbuster Ateneo-La Salle match is slated at 4 p.m. today at Mall of Asia Arena.
Before that, skidding squads University of the Philippines and Adamson collide at 11 a.m. on the penultimate day of the first round of the men’s basketball action.
Ateneo coach Bo Perasol has a similar take on the two long-time adversaries who can’t seem to get their groove just yet.
“The key element when we face each other would be the people that are going to support these guys (Ravena and Teng),” said Perasol.
Both the Eagles and the Archers showed erratic plays in six games aside from getting embarrassingly blown out by early leaders Far Eastern University and University of Santo Tomas.
An Ateneo victory will give the Eagles solo third at 5-2, while a La Salle win will put the two rivals into a tie for third at 4-3.
“Of course it’s going to be tough just like any other Ateneo-La Salle game,” said Ravena. “Von (Pessumal) and I will do our best to prepare the rookies, so they won’t be carried away by the crowd and atmosphere of an Ateneo-La Salle game.”
Teng also expects his teammates to go all out in one of the league’s most watched games.
“You can count on everybody to step up in the game,” said Teng.
For Perasol, the main concern is still consistency even after his Eagles’ 56-43 thumping of the Maroons four days ago.
“Most of the time we start well, but it’s a matter of how we’re going to close out games,” said Perasol.
Sauler hopes the Archers have picked up their confidence after a horrible loss to the Tigers where they blew a 14-point advantage then lost by 16 points, 77-61, last Wednesday. With a report from Jun Veloira