Mike Tolomia vs Arvin Tolentino. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Far Eastern University showed how it can dash a team’s hopes in a snap.
So it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say the Ateneo Blue Eagles are headed for a gruelling showdown in the Final Four of the UAAP men’s basketball tournament Saturday.
Especially since the Tamaraws intend to go into the match with a no-tomorrow attitude, even if they’re the No. 2 seed holding a twice-to-beat advantage over the Eagles.
“It’s a knockout game—that’s going to be our approach,” said FEU coach Nash Racela. “It’s one game and that’s all that matters.”
It’s really the third-ranked Eagles who face a do-or-die scenario in the 3:30 p.m. match at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“It’s a tall order beating anybody twice,” said Ateneo coach Bo Perasol. “We have to be on our toes.”
For Ateneo star Kiefer Ravena, there’s really no choice but to go all out as the solid Tamaraws shoot for the first championship berth.
No. 1 University of Santo Tomas and defending champion National University clash in the other semifinal pairing tomorrow also at the Big Dome.
“We have to be really 100 percent all game long,” said Ravena. “We can’t just turn it on, especially against FEU. We also have to believe that we can beat them.”
The Eagles boast of this season’s best player in Ravena, who just captured his second straight Most Valuable Player award built on league-best averages of 18.9 points and 4.9 assists on top of 6.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals.
No FEU player landed in this season’s Mythical Teams as the top duo of Mac Belo and Mike Tolomia wound up ninth and 10th overall.
Belo and Tolomia will be backed up by a reserve corps toughened by a come-from-behind win over La Salle, where it got a lot of minutes and contributed to bursting the Archers’ playoff dream.
“You never know what will happen during the game, that’s why we really gave them exposure,” Racela said of his reserves.