Last seat

Far Eastern U seeks to complete a stunning reversal, while Ateneo hopes its impressive season won’t go for naught.

The stage is set for a dogfight between the Blue Eagles and Tamaraws on Wednesday as they dispute the right to face defending champion La Salle in the best-of-three finals of UAAP Season 80 basketball tournament.

The Tamaraws forced a do-or-die encounter with an 80-67 dumping of the Eagles last Sunday in their initial Final Four meeting. But Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin remains confident enough that the Eagles can turn the tables on the Tamaraws in their rubber match.

The Eagles won all but one of their 14 games in the elimination round, including two victories over the Tamaraws, an accomplishment that should give Ateneo a morale boost heading into their most important game of the season yet.

“We have a successful season to fall back on in terms of looking for confidence,” said Baldwin.

“So really, it’s about the coaching staff giving these players a message, something specific that they can look at and say, ‘Yes, we can do that.’ And go about doing it.”

The Tamaraws outplayed and outhustled the Eagles for long stretches last Sunday with former Ateneo players Arvin Tolentino and Hubert Cani doing some of the damage on both ends of the floor. FEU also got solid games from graduating player Ron Dennison and Richard Escoto.

FEU coach Olsen Racela said it would take more than their performance last Sunday to overcome the Eagles in the decider.

“It was our best game so far and we’re hoping that it happens in Game 2,” said Racela, a rookie coach in the UAAP.

“Actually, I told the players that we’re peaking at the right time so we’re looking forward to the game on Wednesday.”

The Tamaraws entered the Final Four with an even 7-7 record, but looked sharper on both ends of the floor against the Eagles, whose only other loss came against fierce rival La Salle.

“The tough games we went through in the elimination round helped us (against Ateneo),” said Racela.

“But then again, it will be about defending Ateneo’s disciplined offense. We did that last Sunday, but it’s not going to be enough on Wednesday so we have to find more ways to beat them.”