PIRATES SEEK FINAL 4 EDGE
Lyceum of the Philippines University guns for a twice-to-beat incentive in the Final Four while San Sebastian looks to firm up its grip of fourth spot as they face off today in the 95th NCAA basketball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
The Pirates are currently at No. 2 with a 12-3 (win-loss) record and a victory in their 2 p.m. showdown with the Stags, who are at No. 4 with an 8-6 slate, will assure the former of the second seeding and the important semifinal incentive.
But the advantage will vanish if San Beda, which leads the way with a perfect 16-0 mark, ends up sweeping its last two games and the elimination round that will send the latter straight to the best-of-three finals.
If it happens, the three other seeds will battle it out in a stepladder format where the No. 2 team plays the winner between the Nos. 3 and 4 teams in an all-knockout fashion.
LPU coach Topex Robinson said they will just focus on what they can do.
“We just think about what we can do, which is to try to improve every game,” said Robinson, who is seeking to steer his team to a third straight finals appearance.
The Stags, for their part, are seeking to solidify their place in the magic four and create some space between them and the Mapua Cardinals (7-8) and the St. Benilde Blazers (6-8).
In the other games, St. Benilde squares off with Emilio Aguinaldo (3-12) at 12 noon while Jose Rizal (4-10) and Perpetual (4-10) collide at 4 p.m.