UST, La Salle and NU fight tooth and nail for a final four spot

MANILA—No lead is safe, especially in the UAAP.

Even with University of Santo Tomas sitting at the fourth spot with a valuable two-game cushion at 6-5, the door for a Final Four remains ajar for hopefuls La Salle and National University.

But buoyed by big triumphs over the last week, the Growling Tigers only have to win two of their last three assignments to wrest one of the remaining final four spots.

UST, which missed the bus entirely last season with virtually the same line-up, though, faces a grueling stretch ahead with Far Eastern University, Adamson and National University in its radar.

“The positive thing is we’re two full games ahead [of the fifth-running],” said coach Pido Jarencio, who steered the Growling Tigers to a championship in 2006 but has not came close anew in the past few years.

But Jarencio, whose squad is boosted by the presence of commanding center Karim Abdul and rookie Kevin Ferrer, is setting his aim higher than just the fourth spot.

“We want to be in the Final Four, but there’s still a lot of possibilities. We can even go for No. 2 since we’re still facing Adamson and FEU,” Jarencio said.

But even if the Growling Tigers win just one of  games lined up, it will still be good enough for at least a playoff for a Final Four berth even if either the underachieving Green Archers or the much-improved Bulldogs sweep their last three games.

La Salle and NU, knotted at 4-7, will need an impeccable showing to conclude the elimination round for either team to crash the semifinals, already filled by Ateneo and Adamson.

Set to clash on September 8, only one between the Archers and the Bulldogs will get a crack at sweeping the remainder of the season—but even then, only three losses by UST will give them an outright bid.

“We know we’re in a tough position, so we just have to win our remaining games,” said La Salle coach Dindo Pumaren as his squad has yet to face NU, FEU and University of the Philippines.

The Bulldogs, who despite tapping explosive guard Ray Parks and with Cameroonian reinforcement Emmanuel Mbe in tow, is hanging by a thread and in danger of missing the final four with a potent line up for the second straight year.

NU will face Ateneo Saturday, and La Salle and UST next at the tailend of the eliminations.

Two more setbacks for either team, though, will boot them out of the final four contention.

Meanwhile, Far Eastern University, which is still in the running for a twice-to-beat edge, needs just one victory to keep its redemption bid alive.