Games today:
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
2 p.m. — La Salle vs UST
4 p.m. — Adamson vs Ateneo
Ateneo de Manila University wants to pick up from where it left off as it targets to grab the solo second spot against a confident Adamson University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 85 men’s basketball tournament second round at the Smart Araneta Coliseum today.
Game time is at 4 p.m. following the 2 p.m. skirmish between De La Salle University and cellar-dweller University of Santo Tomas.
The Blue Eagles are on a two-game roll after closing the first round with a 91-76 drubbing of University of the East last week for a 5-2 win-loss record tied with National University.
With a good showing in its first seven games, Ateneo is in a favorable position in the Final Four race, but head coach Tab Baldwin would like to take it just one game at a time.
The Kiwi-American mentor wants his wards to just look at the immediate task at hand and not get ahead of themselves.
“If you’re 5 and 2, you can’t get 12 and 2 next Saturday. You can only go 6 and 2 and that’s the only one that factors into our thinking,” he said.
The Blue Eagles hope to make a repeat of their 76-55 win over the Falcons in the first round where Kai Ballungay and Dave Ildefonso racked up 21 and 15 points, respectively, to lead Ateneo.
But Adamson has other plans in the rematch.
Jerom Lastimosa dropped a career-best 29 points in the Falcons’ 86-84 overtime upset of the Green Archers last week to end the first round with a 3-4 card tied with University of the East and La Salle.
Replicating that kind of win against the league’s ‘big boys’, according to head coach Nash Racela, will give his team a fighting chance for a semis berth.
“Coming from the bottom we’ll try to get wins against the big boys,” Racela said. “It gives us a better chance moving forward.”
Meanwhile, La Salle hopes to change the pattern of its campaign of blowing hot and cold.
Green Archers coach Derrick Pumaren underscores the importance of his team putting effort and sustaining their momentum the whole game.
“The game is 40 minutes. We cannot come out there and come flat, 12-0 run. The game still starts at the opening tip. We gotta play the game 40 minutes and that’s what we gotta do by the second round,” Pumaren said as he rued his team being on the receiving end of an upset twice in the first round at the hands of the Red Warriors and Falcons.
The mentor wants to see maturity in his team come the second round with Schonny Winston, Michael Phillips, Cyrus Austria and Kevin Quiambao leading the way to move up the standings.
“We just gotta work our way up. We know we’re down there, but it’s not the end of the season for us,” Pumaren pointed out. “We have to make our move though because the second round will be the last chance for us.”
La Salle blew out the struggling Tigers, 83-63, in the first round.
UST is reeling from a six-game losing skid after sneaking a win to start the season.
With a 1-6 record, the Bal David-mentored squad is facing an uphill battle to keep its already dimming semis hopes alive.
Evan Nelle, however, was meted a one-game suspension for an unsports-manlike foul during the Archers’ game against Adamson last week.
