Tolentino 3-point shot powers FEU past La Salle to Final 4
With one booming three-point shot and a season-saving defensive gem at the buzzer, Far Eastern University torpedoed yesterday a dream AteneoDe La Salle Final Four showdown in the 81st UAAP men’s basketball at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Arvin Tolentino buried a way-out triple above the keyhole with 3.1 seconds left to lift FEU to a heart-stopping 71-70 victory over La Salle and arrange a semifinal clash with twice-to-beat defending champion Ateneo for a seat in the finals.
The Tamaraws then denied La Salle’s perfectly-executed alley-oop play to center Leo Santillan from the sideline to preserve the comeback thriller.
“I love how this team bonded through adversity, they never gave up,” said FEU mentor Olsen Racela, a member of the 1988 UAAP champion Blue Eagles who now will face his alma mater for the third time in three years since he started coaching the Tams in 2106.
Games Today (Olivarez College gym) 12 noon – CEU vs Diliman College 2 p.m. – LPU-Batangas vs SJC-B
Centro Escolar University (CEU) and Diliman College dispute the top seeding in the semifinals when they clash at the close of the double-round elims today at the Universities and Colleges Basketball League (UCBL) Season 3 at the Olivarez College in Parañaque City.
Though both teams are already assured of twice-to-beat bonuses in the semis, their 12 noon shootout is vital since the winner will have a suppos-
“That’s what gives me the confidence. It’s fitting that we made Final Four this way… we’ve been battling adversity this season and throughout the game,” said the PBA great.
FEU’s win propelled the school to the last four for the sixth consecutive season against Ateneo on Sunday at the Big Dome.
History, however, is on the side of the Blue Eagles.
In the last two seasons, FEU twice forced a twice-to-beat Ateneo squad to a no-tomorrow match in the semifinals, but the team of coach Tab Baldwin came through with victories on both occasions.
Racela, who took over FEU’s coaching chores when younger brother Nash – author of the team’s 2015 championship – became the coach of the TNT KaTropa in the PBA, hopes things will be different this time.
“The target is to make it to the Final Four, and we’ve achieved that. Now we face Ateneo again. I hope, I hope..” said Racela, whose team split its elimination round meetings with the Blue Eagles. edly lighter assignment in No.4 Technological Institute of the Philippines.
They can use today’s game as a barometer whether they have improved since their first round meeting last Sept. 20.
The CEU Scorpions won that match with surprising ease, 88-61, as the deadly troika of Pierce Chan, Rich Guinitaran and the 6-foot-11 Senegalese Maodo Malick Diouf led the team’s offensive spurts in several occasions.
Securing the No. 1 seed is the immediate goal of CEU coach Derrick Pumaren.
“We are here not just to make the twice-to-beat slot. Getting the No. 1 spot is our immediate goal,” said Pumaren.
The Diliman Blue Dragons, however, have become more cohesive and resilient since that setback by winning their next eight games – the latest was an 82-61 romp of Lyceum of the Philippines University-Batangas last Thursday.