More NCAA Final Four hopefuls tangle

MANILA—St. Benilde coach Richard Del Rosario hasn’t lost track of his target for the slumping Blazers, despite his impending big coaching move.

“The Final Four remains our goal and the good news is we are still in contention,” said Del Rosario on the eve of the Blazers’ clash against the Arellano Chiefs in the 87th NCAA basketball tournament.

Appointed acting head coach by B-Meg in the PBA last week, Del Rosario vowed to finish the season with the Blazers, who are looking to arrest a two-game slide at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The former PBA journeyman said breaking the news of his promotion at B-Meg to the Blazers in the middle of the season was difficult, although he stressed that the morale of the team is still high.

“We need to get back on track. The morale of the team is high,” said Del Rosario, whose Blazers lost to the Chiefs in the first round.

“Hopefully we can do a better job containing their shooters. They started the game 14-0 against us. We don’t want that to happen again.

Gametime is at 11:45 a.m. with Arellano also looking to bounce back after losing to Letran last week.

Guest team Lyceum hopes to score a repeat against Perpetual Help at 4 p.m.

The Altas, toting a 2-10 record, will kiss their Final Four hopes goodbye with a loss to the Pirates.

With a 5-6 record, Lyceum is in the thick of the fight for fourth spot with Mapua and St. Benilde.

The Pirates will welcome back Jun Napiza and Rich Guevarra, who sat out the 59-80 loss to Mapua last Friday because of suspension.

The Blazers are hoping to give a winning sendoff for sweet-shooting forward Mark Romero, who will leave the team for good after Monday’s game to join his family in the United States.