Quadruple tie for second?

There are seven games left in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament and so far, three out of eight participating teams have been struck out of contention. Eliminated are Adamson (4-8), UE (3-9) and NU (2-10).

Lording it over the heap is unbeaten Ateneo (12-0) with two more games remaining in the Blue Eagles’ calendar against NU at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tomorrow and UP at the MOA Arena on Wednesday. Assuming Ateneo sweeps the eliminations, it will automatically advance to the best-of-three Finals, leaving the surviving contenders to battle in a stepladder format.

An interesting scenario is if Ateneo winds up 14-0 and four teams finish tied for second with 8-6 records. The four-way logjam will happen if UP (8-4) loses its last two assignments to La Salle and Ateneo, UST (7-6) beats Adamson tomorrow, FEU (7-6) defeats UE on Sunday and La Salle (6-6) takes down UP on Sunday and Adamson on Wednesday.  

At the moment, here are the +/- factors of the four teams that could end up in a tie for second – FEU +35, UST 0, La Salle -17 and UP -18. FEU’s factor got a major boost from the Tamaraws’ twin wins over the Archers, 66-55 and 81-60. The Tams split their games with UP and UST. FEU lost to UP, 61-55 and won over the Maroons, 82-79, in OT. Against UST, FEU lost, 82-74 and won, 72-58.  

The Growling Tigers are dead even with 30 points for and 30 points against. UST swept UP, 84-78 and 85-69 but bowed twice to La Salle, 92-77 and 80-79. Against FEU, the Tigers won, 82-74 and lost, 72-58. The one-point loss to the Archers last Wednesday was a heartbreaker as the Tigers came back from 12 down in the fourth period to nearly force overtime. Rhenz Abando hit a bucket with 1.8 seconds left and the referees had to consult the video replay before ruling it was a two-pointer instead of a triple. Abando’s foot barely touched the three-point line in taking off for the shot. La Salle held on for the pulsating win to keep its chances for a Final Four ticket alive.

La Salle’s two setbacks to FEU were killers as the Archers lost by 11 and 21, more than enough to negate their advantage in beating UST by 15 and 1. The one-point loss to UP was painful as it came at the buzzer on Juan Gomez de Liano’s triple. The Archers led most of the way but couldn’t hold back UP’s surge down the stretch. Their rematch promises to be another thriller on Sunday because another UP win will virtually eliminate La Salle. If UP wins again, La Salle must beat Adamson on Wednesday and hope UST loses to Adamson and FEU is beaten by UE to force a triple tie for third. But it’s not likely the Tigers and Tams will drop their last outings.

UP has a -18 factor because it lost twice to UST by a combined 22-point margin, split with FEU and beat La Salle, 72-71. Even if UP loses to La Salle tomorrow, the Maroons still have one chance to clinch second spot outright but it will entail turning back Ateneo on Wednesday. Once UP reaches nine wins, it’s in solo second. Remaining contenders FEU, UST and La Salle can go up to only eight wins.

If Ateneo sweeps and there is a quadruple tie for second, this is what will happen: The Eagles are in the Finals outright. The quotients or +/- factors will rank the four tied teams from No. 2 to No. 5. No. 2 will play No. 3 for the No. 2 spot to earn a twice-to-beat advantage. No. 4 will play No. 5 in a KO game for the No. 4 spot. Then, the loser of the No. 2 vs. No. 3 playoff will play the winner of the No. 4 vs. No. 5 playoff in a KO game for the No. 3 spot with the survivor holding a twice-to-win disadvantage to face No. 2 in the next stage of the stepladder series. The winner of the No. 2 vs. No. 3 duel will move on to play Ateneo in the best-of-three Finals.

The pressure of landing a spot in the Final Four told on La Salle active coaching consultant Jermaine Byrd who broke down in tears in the middle of the court after the Archers survived UST last Wednesday. In his first coaching assignment overseas, he said it’s taken time for him to adjust to playing conditions in the UAAP.  

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s a wonderful atmosphere but I’ve never been in a situation where the drums are so loud, the cheering is so loud that I can’t hear what my players are saying and they can’t hear what I’m saying,” he said. “I’m still getting used to the physicality of how the game is played here. It’s amazing basketball and extremely competitive, that’s what I expected coming in. The support of the fans, faculty, administration and alumni give to their school is incredible. It’s not even close to how it is in other countries. I’m just blessed to be in this situation with La Salle.”

Asked to describe his rival UAAP coaches in one word, this is what Byrd said: Adamson’s Franz Pumaren “fearless,” Ateneo’s Tab Baldwin “genius,” UST’s Aldin Ayo “tough,” FEU’s Olsen Racela “leader,” UE’s Lawrence Chongson “intense,” UP’s Bo Perasol “focused,” and NU’s Jamike Jarin “intelligent.”