La Salle and Ateneo are looking to extend their winning ways in the second round of the UAAP Season 89 men’s basketball tournament as they enter the next 100 games of their seething age-old rivalry in a match carrying big Final Four implications.
Both the Green Archers and the Blue Eagles are actually working on two-game winning runs, and are at 5-4 and 50-50 in 100 all-time meetings. So their 6 p.m. clash will be quite a tiebreaker as the winner takes momentary hold of third spot and the loser dropping out-although temporarily-of the top four.
As things stand, idle Far Eastern is also at 5-4, and all three of them are tied for third spot with University of the Philippines leading the way with a 7-2 record and National U right behind at 6-3.
La Salle is hoping to have one player, crack guard and team leader Jacob Cortez, returning for their 6 p.m. clash at Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.
‘There’s still a little swelling,’ assistant coach Oliver Bunyi said, referring to Cortez’s hyper-extended knee that has caused him to miss practically the first two games of the second round. ‘There was no damage, but there’s still a little swelling. He’s on a day-to-day status.’
‘Hopefully, he’ll be ready come our game against Ateneo,’ Bunyi said.
All eight teams have five games remaining in their schedules heading into this weekend, making the results on Saturday and Sunday very important.
Meanwhile, Santo Tomas and the Bulldogs-who lost to the Archers and the Eagles the last time, respectively-clash in the other men’s game at 2:30 p.m. with the contest carrying a lot of importance for the Growling Tigers, who, at 4-5, can’t afford to drop more games and think of the semifinals.
Despite playing without Cortez, La Salle ground out a 92-80 victory over the Tigers last Sunday, with JC Macalalag and Doy Dungo leading the way. The duo posted career-high scoring outputs and combined for 10 of the Green Archers’ season-best 14 three-pointers.
‘It’s just a matter of time when I can come up with this kind of game,’ Macalalag said with a mix of Filipino.