Warriors eye playoff for last seat vs Tigers

MANILA, Philippines - University of the East guns for a playoff for the fourth and last Final Four berth today when the Red Warriors tackle the University of Santo Tomas Tigers in a rare Tuesday game of the UAAP Season 77 men’s basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The fifth-running Warriors, who carved out huge victories over National U, Far Eastern and defending champion La Salle to keep their semis bid going, aim to finish the elims with 9-5 and force the idle Bulldogs into a tie for No. 4 and a knockout for the last Final Four slot.

“As I’ve been saying, we’re not out of the woods yet; right now, hindi pa rin kami andun (we’re not in the Final Four yet). We still have to take care of things on Tuesday against UST. We can’t be too happy, hindi pa kami pasok (we’re still not qualified), we have to realize that,” said UE coach Derrick Pumaren.

UE battles out-of-the-running UST (5-8) at 2 p.m. while University of the Philippines (1-12) and Adamson (0-13) face-off in a duel of tailenders at 4 p.m.

Nearly three weeks ago, the Warriors stood on the brink of disaster with a 4-5 record. But they decided to make a go for it, working their way up from there, beginning with a 72-59 disposal of Adamson followed up by wins over the Bulldogs, the Tams and the Archers.

“Everybody has stepped up its game, the boys stepped into the plate and everybody’s hand is on deck as we have to face the challenge. When we faced Adamson, we totally forgot about the standings; for us that was the start of the season, and we started working our way to where we are right now,” said Pumaren.

“We just have to take care of business now, show the same attitude, same fighting spirit, same survival instinct (against UST),” he added.

The Tigers won’t figure in the F4 for the first time since 2010 but would love to exit Season 77 with a bang.

For this to happen, though, UST coach Bong dela Cruz said imperative for one his wards to assume leadership mantle for a squad marred by poor execution in the fourth period, the primary cause of their downfall in four of their last five games.

“Last three games, same mistakes. Yung execution sa fourth quarter, wala (execution just vanishes in the fourth quarter),” rued Dela Cruz.

“Kailangan meron mag-lead. Isa doon sa five na nasa loob, kailangang meron doong leader, siya ang mag-handle ng pag-execute sa last quarter (Someone needs to take charge, anyone on the floor should take charge, lead the team’s execution in the stretch).”

Meanwhile, the Maroons and the Falcons engage in Round 2 of their “championship” duel. In a well-attended game in the first round, the Maroons scored a 77-64 victory that led the way to a bonfire celebration at the UP campus that night.

UP looks to finish a notch higher than deadlast with 2-12, possibly its best since a sixth-place finish in 2008, while AdU tries to avoid a winless season it last experienced in 2001.