MANILA, Philippines - On a high after reasserting its mastery of league-leader Far Eastern, second-running University of Santo Tomas looks to complete the next part of its mission for UAAP Season 78 men’s basketball tourney – clinch a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four.
The Tigers (10-3), who beat the Tams for the second time this year, 85-76, gun for the semis bonus against a dangerous Adamson side (3-10) that’s out to end its campaign on a fiery note in today’s opening match at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“We respect Adamson and we’ve seen how well they’ve been playing so we’ll go hard (against them),” said UST mentor Bong dela Cruz.
The Falcons are also coming off a big victory – a 74-71 disposal of University of the East – which they hope to use as confidence-booster as they try to catch a big fish in the 2 p.m. duel.
“Our team’s mentality is we want to earn the respect of the other teams, (to show) that we belong in this league. Like what I said before, we’re not a one-win team,” said AdU’s Mike Fermin.
The Tigers know the danger of underestimating an opponent from the lower rungs. They fell to a 77-91 ambush at the hands of UE last Nov. 7.
“We’re not going to take Adamson lightly because we were beaten by UE recently. There’s no middle team here; every team can pull off a surprise. Since we want to take that twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four, we have to beat Adamson,” said UST veteran Karim Abdul.
UST outclassed Adamson the first time, 70-64, in an opening-day game that saw the Tigers lead by 17.
“The first time we played them, we were down, 22-5. If we’ll go through another uphill struggle again, it will be difficult for us. We need to keep the game close and who knows in the end we might score an upset,” said Fermin.
Meanwhile, fifth-running La Salle (5-7) aims to revive its sagging Final Four quest as it eyes a share of fourth with idle National U (6-7) in its 2 p.m. encounter with University of the Philippines (3-9).
The Green Archers have lost their last three assignments, including a stinging 62-73 loss to arch rivals Ateneo Blue Eagles last Sunday, and need to beat the Maroons today and the Tams next Wednesday to boost their semis chances.
“We just have to take care of business in the last two games,” said DLSU’s Juno Sauler.