DEFENDING champion Far Eastern University-Diliman and University of Santo Tomas secured the remaining two Final Four berths after besting separate foes Wednesday in the UAAP Season 86 high school boys’ basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.
The Baby Tamaraws scored an 86-64 victory over La Salle-Zobel, while the Tiger Cubs unloaded a 32-point third quarter to beat Ateneo 80-68.
FEU-D and UST remained tied in third and fourth spots at 8-5, as the two teams will slug it out on Sunday to determine their final elimination round rankings.
Adamson University moved closer in claiming the No. 1 ranking in the elimination round with a 77-62 dismantling of UP Integrated School, while National University Nazareth School turned back University of the East 67-52 in a warm-up to their Sunday face-off.
The Baby Falcons and the Bullpups, who are already assured of twice-to-beat incentives in the Final Four, improved to 12-1 and 11-2 records, respectively.
After going through the needle in the past two games, coach Allan Albano had a sigh of relief after the Baby Tamaraws posted their first double-digit win since a 26-point rout of the Junior Fighting Maroons last Jan. 7.
“Masaya, at least meron at malaki ang chance naming makapunta sa Finals. Pero iba ang scenario, kami naman ang nasa ibaba. Yung makakalaban namin, we have to beat them twice,” said Albano after his team extended their Final Four streak to seven seasons.
“Ibang challenge sa mga players. Hopefully magawa namin kung sino man ang makakalaban namin. Everybody on the team, masaya from the players up to the management na nakabalik kami ng Final Four,” he added.
EJ Herbito paced FEU-D with 14 points, Dwyne Miranda scored 12 points and dished out nine assists, while Cabs Cabonilas had a double-double outing of 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Koji Buenaflor, wearing a protective mask on his face after getting injured in the previous game, was huge with 21 points, seven rebounds, and three assists, while Lanze Ronquillo added 14 points, three steals, and two assists for the Tiger Cubs.
As UST braces for its second consecutive Final Four stint, coach Manu Iñigo hopes that his troops will immediately correct some flaws in their game heading. The Tiger Cubs led by as much as 23 points before the Blue Eagles were able to cut the deficit to a respectable level in the end.
“Palagi kong sinasabi yung chemistry. Yung mindset kasi kapag lumalamang, minsan may tendency na mag-relax so kailangang alisin nila iyon,” said Iñigo.
“Sabi ko nga, 40 minutes of tamang basketball na dapat ginagawa, hindi yung kapag lumalamang, nag-iiba na ang mindset. Kailangang maayos lang ang maturity nila,” he added.
UST avenged its 59-74 loss to Ateneo in the first round.
JC Bonzalida had 17 points, nine boards, and two blocks while Vince Reyes added 16 points, 13 rebounds, and four assists while having zero turnovers in more than 20 minutes of action for Adamson.
The Junior Fighting Maroons kept the game close in the first period before the Baby Falcons pulled away in the second quarter and protected the double-digit lead in the second half.
“We were not satisfied in the first half. The starters did their job, the second unit came in but they were slacking off. Sabi ko hindi puwede ang ganoon, kasi kung ano ang ginawa ng first group, pag masama, dapat okay kayo. Kapag maganda, you have to duplicate that or give more effort,” said Adamson coach Mike Fermin.
