Baldwin, Racela sharpen knives for death fight

Game Today (Mall of Asia Arena) 4 p.m. – FEU vs Ateneo

Will Ateneo’s dream run end in a nightmare? Or will host Far Eastern University relive hell all over again?

The answer will be known today as the top-seeded Blue Eagles and the fourth-ranked Tamaraws go at it one more time for the second finals berth in UAAP Season 80 basketball at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Tip off is at 4 p.m., with Ateneo out to bounce back from a numbing 80-67 loss in the series opener last Sunday and FEU determined to complete an unfinished business last year when the Tamaraws lost to the Blue Eagles in a similar knockout.

The winner of the sudden death will earn the right to face defending champion La Salle in a best-of-three titular showdown starting Saturday.

Momentum should be on the side of the Tamaraws, who appear to be peaking at the right time after scoring a morale-boosting 71-54 victory over the No. 3 Adamson Soaring Falcons on the final day of eliminations.

“Definitely, it’s our best game so far sa season. We’re hoping na maulit for Game 2,” said FEU’s first-year coach Olsen Racela, who as a player helped Ateneo clinch the 1988 UAAP title.

“I told the players na nagpi-peak kami at the right time so hindi pa tapos ‘yung season namin. ‘Yung mga pinagdaanan namin sa eliminations, talagang makakatulong sa amin lalo na sa mga ganitong klaseng laro.”

The same, however, could not be said of the Blue Eagles, now on the brink of elimination after nearly pulling off a 14-game sweep of the eliminations before getting waylaid by the Green Archers, 79-76, last Nov. 12.

“We have to accept the humility of the scenario. We have to get back to understanding what we do well, and sort of rediscover who we are,” said Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin.

Blue Eagles wingman Thirdy Ravena vowed to come out strong against the Tamaraws. “We didn’t work this hard just to lose in the Final Four. We’re gonna put up a fight on Wednesday,” he said.