Archers have momentum—and Final Four history on their side—in KO clash with Bulldogs
La Salle will have some sort of momentum—and a lot of history on its side—coming into Saturday when the Green Archers clash with the National U Bulldogs for the second Finals berth of the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament.
Unbeaten in three Final Four series against the Bulldogs, La Salle is also seeking to become the first fourth seed in six years to knock out the tournament No. 1 and make the title series when they clash at 3:30 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum for the right to face defending champion University of the Philippines for the crown.
For La Salle, this could mean a third straight year in the finals and a chance to regain the title from the Fighting Maroons.
And it would cap a roller-coaster campaign that had its stars sidelined because of injuries and some of its players suspended, which resulted in a 2-3 start and had pundits writing the Archers off early.
Coach Topex Robinson couldn’t have spoken about their campaign better.
“Well, for us, it’s really been hard to make it here. It wasn’t given to us. We earned it,” he said after an 87-77 win over the Bulldogs on Wednesday in the first game. “We’re just blessed to have these players that are really willing to give up their own agenda heading into the season just to contribute.”
The Archers are now in full strength with Kean Baclaan and Mason Amos back from serious leg injuries, but National U coach Jeff Napa remains confident that they will finally be able to solve the La Salle puzzle in the Final Four.
Figuring it out
“Of course, they (Archers) have a psychological edge,” Napa said in Filipino. “We just need to figure out how to handle this situation and challenge. We’re still positive, even though it’s definitely a challenge.”
Napa could easily point a finger at what happened in the Game 1 loss.
“The important thing for us is to play as a group and as a team,” he said, as only Jake Figueroa delivered with 20 points and 10 rebounds. “There are some things we need to fix, especially with the other players.”
La Salle is seeking to become the first school since the University of Santo Tomas in 2014 to make the Finals as the fourth-ranked team. The Tigers actually pulled out the trick first in 2013, before the Bulldogs duplicated it a year later to win the championship, which snapped a 60-year title wait.
Meanwhile, the Maroons are back in the title series after carving out an 82-81 victory over the Growling Tigers also on Wednesday and UP gets some sort of an advantage by having a longer recovery time of a full week with Game 1 for the crown to be played on Wednesday.
