STUNG the last time out, coach Tab Baldwin of reigning three-time champion Ateneo is hoping his charges could take to heart the lessons learned in their first loss in the league in four years.
Whether the Blue Eagles can rise from adversity will be known today when they tackle Far Eastern University in the Final Four of the 84th UAAP basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
The game is set at 6 p.m., with Ateneo holding a twice-to-beat advantage as the top-ranked team after the elimination round.
No. 2 University of the Philippines, also armed with a win-once incentive, battles third seed La Salle in the curtain-raiser at 2 o’clock.
Victories by Ateneo and UP will send them to the best-of-three finals starting this Friday.
Game 2 is set on Sunday, with a deciding Game 3, if needed, set Wednesday next week, all at the MOA Arena.
A knockout tiff or tiffs, if necessary, will be played on Friday at the same venue.
The fancied Eagles dropped a heart-rending 83-84 loss to the Fighting Maroons last Sunday that halted their 13-game win run this season and ended a 39-0 record since 2018.
The loss paved the way for a traditional Final Four battle, with the No. 1 team, in this case the Blue Eagles, taking on the No. 4 squad, the Tamaraws, and the Maroons, which finished second in the eliminations with a 12-2 card, tackling La Salle, the No. 3 team.
“They’re (Tamaraws) very good and it seems like whenever we play in the semifinals we run up against FEU and the history there is one of a lot of difficulty. We don’t expect anything less, you know Olsen (Racela) just does a great job, and they’re gonna be ready,” Baldwin said.
“They gave us a hard time in the last game, and then we separated in the second half, but they’re gonna fancy their chances for sure, but we will regroup, and we have to make sure this loss is useful for us, and there will be lessons taken and lessons learned,” he added.
The likes of Dave Ildefonso, 6-foot-10 naturalized Filipino center Ange Kouame, BJ Andrade, SJ Belangel, Tyler Tio, and Raffy Verano are expected to lead Ateneo’s attack.
The Tamaraws, coming off a 109-65 beat down of University of Santo Tomas three days ago, will pin their hopes on RJ Abarrientos, L-Jay Gonzales, Nigerian Emman Ojuola, Royce Alforque, and Xyrus Torres.
The Eagles beat the Tams 79-70 when they first met last March 29 before following it up with a 70-53 triumph last April 28.
On a high after claiming the scalp of Ateneo, Maroons tactician Goldwin Monteverde is far from satisfied.
“I’ve been consistent naman ever since nag-start iyong season na we’re always looking for that improvement pa rin, so kumabaga iyong game namin against UST, and even today’s game kumbaga we’re really doing our best defensively at offensively to execute sa opensa,” Monteverde said.
“Iyong team defense namin mapa-ganda pa namin, which I think would be a big factor sa pagpasok namin sa Final Four, so whatever we did nitong last two games we really gained a lot from it.”
Carl Tamayo, Zavier Lucero, Senegalese Malick Diouf, Ricci Rivero, Joel Cagulangan, and James Spencer will be counted upon by the Katipunan-based five.
The Green Archers trounced the National University Bulldogs 76-65 last Sunday and with main man Justine Baltazar (sprain) and Schonny Winston (back) doubtful due to injuries, will bank on Joaqui Manuel, Kurt Lojera, Michael Phillips, and Evan Nelle, and Mark Nonoy.
UP nipped La Salle in their two past matches — 61-59 last April 7 and 72-69 last April 23.
