Ateneo, La Salle in battle royale

09/06/2008

One team guns for a repeat win while the other seeks for revenge as Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle clash today in a battle between long time rivals at the close of the elimination round in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament.

Forget about whatever is at staked in the 4 p.m. encounter at the Araneta Coliseum, which is expected to be filled to the rafters when the the Blue Eagles and the Green Archers meet for the second time this season.

The Blue Eagles have kept themselves on top of the standings all throughout the two-round elimination on the way to becoming the first team to reach the Final Four phase.

Already assured of twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four, the Eagles still have to give their all today if only to prove that their 79-73 winover the Archers the first time they met this season exactly two months ago was no fluke.

More than the motivation of revenge, the Archers need to corner this game today or they will go into the crucial Final Four round quite demoralized.

The occupy solo spot, like the Eagles, are assured twice-to-beat advantage, this after Far Eastern University (FEU) fell in ambush to University of Santo Tomas, 61-73 Thursday.

One thing going for the Archers would be the return of coach Franz Pumaren who has arrived after handling the RP Youth Team in a Fiba-Asia Youth championship in Theran, Iran.

“There’s always pressure whenever we play La Salle. We will still go all out to win, we want to enter the playoffs on a high note,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black.

Blue Eagles will be relying on MVP contenders Rabeh Al-Hussaini and Chris Tiu, while the Green Archers will be banking on veterans Rico Maierhofer and JV Casio.

UST’s Growling Tigers try to gain graceful exit when it faces host University of the Philippines in the first tussle at 2 p.m.

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