ATENEO de Manila is expected to go all out against overachieving Adamson University on Wednesday to avoid going through the complications of a playoff for the No. 2 seed in the Final Four of the Season 79 University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament.
The game, one of two duels marking the end of the elimination round, is set at 4 p.m. at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Blue Eagles are bringing a 9-4 win-loss record against Coach Franz Pumaren’s Soaring Falcons, who, at 8-5, could force a rubber match for the No. 2 ranking in the semifinals for a twice-to-beat advantage.
De La Salle is high and dry at No. 1 with a 13-1 record.
Defending champion Far Eastern University (FEU), also still in the running for the No. 2 seed, and University of the East (UE) clash in the first game at 2 p.m.
The Soaring Falcons crashed the semifinals with a four-game streak in the second round, which they highlighted with a 77-53 rout of Season 76 champion National University.
“We’re aiming to at least get a tie and get a shot at gaining that twice-to-beat advantage,” Pumaren said. “We just have to beat Ateneo and we could create some sort of a tie.”
The task, however, already looks complicated—no thanks to the quotient system—for the Falcons, who have to beat the Blue Eagles by more than 30 points and hope for an FEU victory over UE to force a three-way tie at second place on a 9-5 card.
If that happens, Ateneo will be relegated to No. 4, while FEU and Adamson University will engage in a playoff for the No. 2 seed.
But if the Falcons prevail by 30 points or less and the Tamaraws hurdle the Red Warriors, FEU will have to settle for the fourth spot, while the Blue Eagles and Falcons will figure in a playoff for the No. 2 seed.
“We just don’t have to be overconfident,” added Pumaren, whose wards beat the Blue Eagles in the first round, 62-61, on Dawn Ochea’s buzzer-beater jumper.
Like the Falcons, Ateneo is also on a roll. The wards of Head Coach Tab Baldwin have won their last five assignments, the last a 74-64 triumph over season-host University of Santo Tomas behind Isaac Go’s 15-point performance.
Baldwin was happy to get the win, which saw his second unit responding to the challenge. But the former Gilas coach said their performance remained inefficient and they have to play better against the Falcons.