Ateneo to settle score against rival La Salle

Expect the historic Araneta Coliseum to be filled to the rafters anew as bitter rivals Ateneo and La Salle clash for the last time in the elimination round of the 73rd UAAP men's basketball tournament on Sunday.

The Green Archers are hoping to repeat their dramatic 66-63 win over the Blue Eagles last July 24 where more than 16,000 fans witnessed how a young La Salle squad overcame a nine-point deficit with under four minutes left in the final period. Sam Marata broke the hearts of the Ateneo fateful when he buried back-to-back three-pointers that highlighted La Salle's come-from-behind win. Game is set at 4 p.m. and as usual, tickets for Sunday’s matches will be sold separately to accommodate more spectators from both schools. The curtain raiser, pitting struggling squads National University and University of the Philippines, meet at a rare start time of 12 noon. Since their last encounter, both teams endured contrasting fortunes but are still on pace to make the Final Four this season. The Taft-based dribblers hold a 6-3 record for fourth place after blasting UP, 84-63, on Thursday. Despite already exceeding their wins from last season, La Salle is having a hard time closing out games, as seen in its losses against league-leader Far Eastern University and Adamson. "We're still far from getting to that Final Four berth," said Green Archers coach Dindo Pumaren. "We have to take it one game at a time but I'm glad in recent games, it seems that everybody has been stepping up." Veterans Maui Villanueva, Joshua Webb and Simon Atkins have posted solid numbers each game while rookies Jarelan Tampus and Almond Vosotros have been stellar in La Salle’s wins over NU and UP. Since the loss, Ateneo won five straight games for second place with a 7-2 card. During the streak, the Blue Eagles drew big games from veterans Eric Salamat, Nico Salva, Kirk Long, Eman Monfort and Justin Chua while also getting solid contribution from rookie big man Art Dela Cruz. With two teams on the verge of clinching a Final Four berth, Ateneo mentor Norman Black expects a good showdown. "Should be a good one," said Black. "It seems both teams are flying under the radar so far with the focus on FEU and Adamson. I think each of us are playing good basketball." La Salle aims for back-to-back wins over Ateneo for the first time since the 2005 season when the Archers won all three meetings that season behind JV Casio, Rico Maierhofer and Ryan Araña. Since then, Ateneo has won nine of its last 12 meetings against La Salle, including a two-game sweep of the 2008 finals behind Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Chris Tiu and Nonoy Baclao. Meanwhile, NU, carrying a 3-6 record for fifth place, tries to arrest its two-game skid behind Emmanuel Mbe, Kokoy Hermosisima and Mervin Baloran. The Bulldogs dropped four of their last five games and somehow lost their defensive mentality during this stretch. For its part, UP tries to nail its first win after a sorry 0-9 slate. The Maroons will lean on Mike Silungan and Magi Sison in filling up the void left by Mark Lopez and Woody Co, who suffered separate injuries last Thursday. Lopez suffered an ACL while Co injured his foot. – JVP, GMANews.TV