By John Bryan Ulanday
ALREADY at the doorstep of another outright finals berth, unscathed Ateneo aims to thrust its one foot inside when it collides against dangerous and streaking Far Eastern University (FEU) in the penultimate playdate of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 84 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Blue Eagles sport an immaculate 12-0 slate in the homestretch and a win at 4:30 p.m. against the No. 4 Tamaraws (6-6) would put them in prime position to sweep the two-round elims like they did in 2019 for another free passage to the championship round.
Ateneo’s last game is on Sunday against rival and No. 2 University of the Philippines (UP) (10-2), which will figure in a non-bearing game against also-ran University of Santo Tomas (UST) (3-9) at 7 p.m. on Thursday night.
Prior to that, National University (NU) (5-7) fights for dear life against winless University of the East (UE) (0-12) at 10 a.m. while Adamson (5-7) and La Salle (7-5) clash at 12:30 p.m. with huge Final Four implications on the line.
For the three-time reigning champion Ateneo though, it is not keen on looking ahead regardless of how huge the stake is.
“We still have games to go. We would love to feel confident in ourselves, but there’s just still too much uncertainty in how we’ve played so far this year,” said coach Tab Baldwin, keeping wary of their remaining challenges starting against the gritty FEU.
For its part, FEU on a three-game win streak to claim a solo fourth spot vows to wage an all-out resistance even against a mighty opponent that has also won 38 straight games since 2018.
“It’s gonna be a tall order. We’re gonna ride on this momentum and our confidence level,” said coach Olsen Racela as FEU coincidentally handed Ateneo’s last loss back in Season 81.
FEU was also one of three teams along with UP and La Salle to drop a single-digit loss against Ateneo this season, fanning hopes for Mr. Racela to pull off a gargantuan upset this time around and boost its own Final Four goal.