La Salle, FEU aim to fortify semis bids

MANILA, Philippines – Defending champion La Salle and Far Eastern University (FEU) hope to strengthen their Final Four bids when they face separate opponents in Thursday’s game in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament. The Green Archers, minus coach Franz Pumaren, will try to jeopardize University of Santo Tomas’ semifinal hopes when they face the Tigers in the 4pm encounter after the FEU-National University game at the Araneta Coliseum. Pumaren is expected to miss the Archers’ last three games since he will be calling the shots for the Philippine junior team in the 20th Fiba-Asia Under-18 Championship from August 28 to September 5 in Tehran, Iran. The Archers and the FEU Tamaraws are virtually fighting for the No. 2 spot, which enjoys a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four. Both teams hold an 8-3 card and could no longer overtake the Ateneo Blue Eagles for the top ranking. La Salle is also expected to face tough opposition against an equally-determined UST side as the Tigers are trying to remain in the hunt for a Final Four berth. At 5-6 the Tigers still have a good chance of earning a semis ticket since they trail the fourth-running University of the East Red Warriors (7-5) by 1 1/2 games. In order to achieve that, UST needs to sweep its last three games, one of which against La Salle. The Tigers are also hoping the Warriors won’t earn win No. 8 and drop their final two matches to improve their chances of advancing in the next round. A loss by the Tigers over the Archers coupled by a Warriors victory against UST on Sunday will end the España-based dribblers semifinal hopes. UE will face FEU on September 4 for its final game. After UST, La Salle will face Adamson on Saturday before closing out the elimination round against archival Ateneo on September 6. The Tigers, meanwhile, will have the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons as their final opponent. In the first game, the Tamaraws hope to exact revenge against the Bulldogs hoping to earn a much-needed win that could bolster their bid of earning the second twice-to-beat incentive. The Bulldogs scored a come-from-behind 69-61 win over the Tamaraws behind the end-game heroics of Jewel Ponferrada. – GMANews.TV