UAAP awaits Mark’s US papers; FEU falls

Defending champion La Salle virtually claimed the first seat in the Final Four by beating University of the Philippines, 85-79, amid a brewing controversy involving its top scoring guard even as University of the East slowed down Far Eastern’s bid for the semis with a 68-63 upset yesterday at the Ateneo Gym.

The Warriors overcame a six-point deficit in the final 73 seconds of play and shocked the Tamaraws only 24 hours after another title contender, Ateneo, was ambushed by Santo Tomas, 62-55, as hostilities heat up in the UAAP men’s basketball eliminations.

The Warriors tied the Tams at fourth with identical 5-5 win-loss slates with idle National U Bulldogs at third with 5-4 slate.

Only the Archers, with its ninth win, appeared to be in safe grounds in the race for the Final Four but they seemed to have a bigger battle off the court on the eligibility issue of rookie Mark Cardona.

The UAAP board announced yesterday his eligibility remained under question after it has talked to a top official of Carson High in the United States who agreed to furnish the school league with transcript of records of the La Salle prized recruit.

UP department of human kinetics dean Gilda Uy, tasked by the board to communicate with Carson High, said she had contacted the school assistant principal, Jeff Davis, who informed her that Carson High "never released transcript of records with handwritten entries and without the signature of the registrar."

La Salle submitted to the board Friday merely photocopies of Cardona’s papers with Carson High, one of which carried handwritten entries and without the signature of the registrar.

Uy said she asked Davis to furnish the UAAP board with Cardona’s papers and if the documents showed that Cardona studied for three years in the last five years in Carson High, he’ll be proven to be ineligible to play and the nine wins posted by the Archers in the ongoing UAAP season may be forfeited.

The UAAP earlier allowed Cardona to play for La Salle only on the basis of his DECS accreditation exam test, meaning he didn’t finish his high school through regular schooling.

The school league later asked La Salle to submit documents of Cardona from Carson High when it found out from an article in the La Salle school organ La Sallians that the player studied three years in Carson High.