Eagles pursue golden path to automatic finals

MANILA, Philippines — Assured of a Final Four entry and a twice-to-beat bonus, Ateneo has a golden path to an outright finals passage, and the Blue Eagles go for it as they try to sweep their last two games in the elims, starting with their face-off with also-ran National U today at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo.

Santo Tomas also faces an eliminated foe in Adamson, with the Tigers hoping to cap their elims stint with a win for an outright playoff shot at a Final Four berth in the 82nd UAAP wars.

Bent on achieving a UAAP three-peat, Ateneo has been on a run demonstrating mastery and perfection so far this season as highlighted by an emphatic 84-50 victory over a hapless UE side to move within two steps of an elimination round sweep that comes with a prize of an automatic seat in the finale.

But for coach Tab Baldwin, a sweep should not be the focus of the Blue Eagles yet, trying to ease off pressure from his wards.

“We’re just thinking about NU,” said Baldwin. “For any team in this position, things like undefeated seasons, sweeps, they happen because you take it one step at at time not because you make some grand statement about how good you are in front of a microphone.”

Ateneo has rival and last year’s runner-up UP as its last hurdle for a possible sweep so long as it takes care of business against NU today.

Meanwhile, the Tigers (7-6) gun for a big win against the Falcons (4-8) at 4 p.m. to create a breather from FEU (7-6) and La Salle (6-6) in their mad dash to the finish.