FEU forces head-to-head face off against DLSU for UAAP S81 Final Four

“We have one game to play to make it to the final four and we’ll take advantage of that.” – FEU Head Coach Olsen Racela (Photo: Jim De Ramos/Facebook)

After an upset win against the Adamson University (AdU) Falcons last Sunday, November 18 at the Mall of Asia Arena, the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws forced a playoff against the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers to secure a spot in the Final Four of Season 81 of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP).

Arvin Tolentino led his team to an 82-56 victory with 11 points, as his teammate Hubert Cani helped out with 10 points. For the opposing team, Jerome Lastimosa tried to give the Falcons a good run at 11 points, but unfortunately, the rest of his teammates only made 29% from the field and 1/20 attempts from the three-point line.

FEU Head Coach Olsen Racela expressed his excitement with the FEU winning against the very strong ADU Falcons saying, “We’re finally getting the breaks here in the second round,” adding in Filipino, “This game is a big deal, but of course, they were missing Ahanmisi and Manganti,” referring to Adamson’s powerhouses. As for the game against DLSU set for November 21 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, he shares, “We have one game to play to make it to the final four and we’ll take advantage of that.”

The Tamaraws are at an 8-6 standing like the archers after a four-game losing skid. Coach Olsen referred to that, saying, “If we took care of business earlier on, we’ll be in better position,” but looks on to the next step positively as “an opportunity.” In the former professional basketball player’s words, “We have one more game and we were given a blessing.”

The winner of Wednesday’s game will be going against the team that holds the top spot, the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) Blue Eagles, to try to defeat their twice-to-beat advantage into the championship. Meanwhile, the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons and the AdU Falcons go head-to-head as they have already secured the third and second seed respectively.