Tigers clip Eagles, boost Final 4 bid

Santo Tomas stopped Ateneo on its track and enhanced its bid for a slot in the Final Four of the 64th UAAP men’s basketball tournament with a 62-55 upset yesterday at the Ateneo Gym.

Earlier, National University bounced back from an 86-77 loss to Ateneo the last time out, fighting back from an early 10-point deficit and hacking out a stirring 82-68 victory over Adamson.

The Bulldogs regained a share of third place with Far Eastern University at 5-4 while the Falcons failed to sustain a fiery start and stayed winless in nine outings this season and in 29 games dating back to the 1999 season.

The Bulldogs made it two in a row versus the Falcons this season while the Tigers got back at the Eagles in a stunning reversal which denied Ateneo an outright slot in the next round.

Ateneo suffered its first defeat in its last eight games and tumbled to 7-2 overall, a full game behind leader La Salle at 8-1.

"I experimented with new combinations and I think it worked. Nakakuha kami ng isang malaking isda, so lumaki ang laban naming maka Final Four. Dadaan kami sa butas ng karayom pero nararamdaman ko na aabot kami doon," said UST coach Aric del Rosario.

Meanwhile, former PSC chairman Philip Juico yesterday said the La Salle Alumni Association has offered to shoulder the travel expenses of the UAAP representative who will be tasked to personally check cager Mark Cardona’s records with Carson High in California.

Juico, a La Salle alumnus, said he has already informed Ricardo Matibag, head of the screening committee, regarding the offer but the Adamson representative said he will have to take it up with UAAP president and FEU team manager Anton Montinola.

"It’s very clear that since 1996, Cardona studied at Carson for only two years and three months. That’s why we are willing to shoulder the expenses for this trip... to help the board settle the issue as soon as possible. We have nothing to hide," said Juico.

Montinola said Cardona’s records with Carson High over the last five years, which were forwarded by La Salle to the board, will have to be authenticated by officials of the California institution before the Archers could officially get off the hook.

The UAAP board met Friday but failed to decide on whether or not La Salle has violated the eligibility rule that bars any cager, who has studied for three of the last five years overseas from playing in the league without a two-year residency. — With report from Abac Cordero