Archers, Falcons battle for solo third

De La Salle University and Adamson University dispute solo third place today to finalize their Final Four positions going into the play-off phase of the 73rd UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum.

Both sporting identical 8-5 marks, the Archers and the Falcons try to rebound from stinging losses in their previous outings when they clash anew at 4 p.m.

Early in the day, out-of-it-all National University (NU) and University of Santo Tomas (UST) seek to make a graceful exit by winning their last game of the season at 2 p.m.

The Archers saw their two-game win streak clipped by the also-ran University of the East (UE), which rode on Raffy Reyes’ breakout performance to post an 80-74 stunner that formally closed the twice-to-beat door on the Archers.

Reyes tossed in a career-best 17 points, including a fastbreak lay-up to cap a momentum-grabbing 9-0 blitz that turned a 62-64 UE deficit into a commanding 71-64 lead which the Warriors nursed at the horn.

With the loss, La Salle became the third Final Four team to fell prey against the late-blooming Warriors, who also upset defending champion Ateneo de Manila University and Adamson.

Like the Archers whom they nipped, 70-68, in the first round, the Falcons also kissed their twice-to-beat hopes goodbye after taking a 59-62 pawing from the fifth-running Bulldogs.

Jewel Ponferrada delivered the game-winning triple off a Mervin Baloran kick-out pass with 2.9 seconds left to hand the Bulldogs their sixth win in 13 outings.

Ponferrada’s late-game heroics sent the Falcons to their second straight defeat after dominating winless University of the Philippines for their eight victory of the season.

The winner of the La Salle-Adamson rematch faces the no. 2 seed which will be determined by the outcome of the Ateneo-Far Eastern University tussle on Sunday. The loser meanwhile gets the unenviable task of playing the no. 1 team in the play-offs.

Adamson’s highest Final Four finish was at fourth during the 2006 season when it was ousted by then top-ranked Ateneo in the semis. In that same year, La Salle missed the Final Four after being slapped a one-year suspension for breaking eligibility rules. Last season, the Archers wound up fifth after dropping their last elimination match against NU.

Anthony Divinagracia, UAAP Home