Eagles, Tams prime up for Sunday tiff

Unbeaten Ateneo and defending champion Far Eastern U prime up for their much-awaited showdown in the 67th UAAP basketball tournament as they take on winless National U and University of the Philippines, respectively, today at the Philsports Arena.

Coming off come-from-behind wins over the weekend, the Eagles face the Bulldogs at 1:30 p.m. while the Tams tackle the Maroons at 4 p.m., all fired-up to score victories in time for their highly-anticipated collision on Sunday.

The Larry Fonacier-less Eagles are shooting for win No. 6 against the Bulldogs, down in the cellar with a 0-5 (win-loss) slate with the Maroons.

Focus, however, will be on the Tams and coach Koy Banal.

The bespectacled FEU mentor, who steered the Tams to the title romps in the UAAP, the PBL Unity Cup this year and other collegiate leagues, hopes to erase the stigma of his wards’ disappointing showing against the Bulldogs, whom they barely beat, 86-85, in overtime Saturday.

It was the Morayta-based team’s fourth win against a loss for solo second place. Trailing Ateneo and FEU is La Salle with a 4-2 (win-loss) record while Adamson, University of the East and Santo Tomas, tote identical 3-3 cards.

"Respect the opponent because all the teams are capable of beating us, " said Banal, adding all was well with the team after a Monday bull session.

Meanwhile, Adamson’s Ramil Tagupa and UE’s Jay Raymund Leyga will be out the rest of the season after sustaining an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury, the same injury that sidelined Fonacier for the rest of the season.