Blue Eagles shoot for F4 berth
Games Today (Mall of Asia Arena)
12 noon – La Salle vs Ateneo 4 p.m. – UST vs FEU
Defending champion Ateneo faces a La Salle squad that apparently has regrouped as the Blue Eagles shoot for a Final Four slot in the 82nd UAAP basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Hostilities begin at 12 noon with the Blue Eagles seeking their 10th straight victory.
The Katipunan-based squad also aims to duplicate its 81-69 first-round triumph against the Green Archers last Sept. 8 and extend their mastery over La Salle to five games.
The last time the Archers won over the Eagles was in 2017’s Game 2 finals where they rallied from a 21point deficit en route to a 47-37 win.
Despite their recent head-to-head record, Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin is wary of La Salle, which is coming off back-to-back wins bridging the second round including a 85-61 triumph over National University a week ago that pushed them up in the middle standings at 4-4.
“They (La Salle) look like they’ve sort of found themselves a bit. They’ve got a couple of good wins under their belt,” he said. “They pushed themselves right up into the Top 4 contention and that’s where they wanna be.”
“I won’t expect anything but a great game and tough game,” said the former national team mentor.
Thirdy Ravena and Ange Kouame remain the Eagles’ go-to guys, but SJ Belangel, Will Navarro and brothers Mike and Matt Nieto are also expected to lend a hand in their bid to deal their bitter rivals another heartache.
La Salle, meanwhile, wants to ride on the momentum of morale-boosting victories and become the first team to dealt Ateneo its first setback.
“We prepare more for what we have to do instead of who we’re going to play,” said La Salle coach Gian Nazario. “That’s gonna be our mantra for the rest of the season.”
Challenging Ateneo’s will be Justine Baltazar, who erupted for 25 points, 25 rebounds, two assists and two blocks for La Salle against NU, as well as Andrei Caracut and Jamie Malonzo, who merged for 28 points.
In the other game, University of Santo Tomas aims to improve its 5-4 record when it meets Far Eastern University at 4 p.m.
The Tigers are coming off a 101-73 drubbing of University of the East anchored on Soulemane Chabi Yo, Zach Huang and Sherwin Concepcion, while the Tamaraws are fresh from an 85-79 loss to NU four days back for 4-5.