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DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY guns for the second finals
berth against archrival Ateneo de Manila University Thursday in the
stepladder semifinals of the 70th University Athletic Association of
the Philippines men’s basketball tournament at the Araneta
Coliseum.
The La Salle-Ateneo rematch,
which is the fourth this season, is set at 4 p.m. with La Salle
hoping to join unbeaten University of the East in the best-of-three
championship round.
The Red Warriors booked the first
finals slot after sweeping the double-round eliminations.
“We are not thinking of the
finals yet. What we have to do right now is to focus on our game
against Ateneo. We need to limit our mistakes and be consistent on
our shooting,” said coach Franz Pumaren, who will bank on Rico
Maierhofer, Jayvee Casio, Cholo Villanueva, Ty Tang and PJ Walsham.
The Green Archers survived the
Eagles, 70-69, last week to gain the No.2 spot with a twice-to-beat
incentive in the semis.
“They [Ateneo] really played
well last Sunday. Marami silang bagong adjustments sa galaw nila.
But we are prepared for that. Pinag-aralan namin mabuti ang laro
nila and we are ready for that big battle,” added Pumaren, whose
wards are coming off a weeklong rest.
Ateneo, on the other hand, is
coming off a 69-64 win over the dethroned University of Santo Tomas
which coach Norman Black intends to use as take off point in on
their finals bid.
“This game is a totally
different from our three previous matches. The intensity is expected
to rise up. It’s going to be a tough match,” said Black, who
will rely on shooting guards Chris Tiu and Eric Salamat and big men
Ford Arao, Nonoy Baclao and Zion Laterre.
“They [La Salle] are
well-rested but we are coming off an inspiring win which I think
will be a plus factor for us. We beat them twice in the eliminations
and there’s no reason why we can’t beat them again,” declared
Black.
Ateneo beat La Salle in the
eliminations, 80-77, and 89-87, but La Salle won, 70-69, in the
playoff for the No. 2 slot on September 18.
--Emil Noguera
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