MANILA – Perhaps the old commercial line, “once you pop, you can’t stop” is applicable for the title-favorite Far Eastern University in the 73rd University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament.
After successfully duplicating the first round sweep (7-0) led previously by King Tamaraw Arwind Santos in 2005, the new breed of FEU cagers make sure that they will also end the season repeating the same trick Santos and company did five years ago---bag the coveted championship crown.
But as things go normally in the the most premiere collegiate league in the country, all teams are finding ways to upset a league-leader like FEU or at least inch closer to the illustrious stable currently enjoyed by the Morayta-based squad.
Tamaraws mentor Glenn Capacio certainly knows just that. At the close of the tight first round, the 1983 UAAP MVP said he is up for the challenge while asking his wards to double their efforts in the next few games.
“We need to double our efforts especially in the second round where all teams go out stronger as the fight for the Final Four slots begins,” he said in an interview.
The 16-year-old Final Four format is the equivalent of a playoff in the UAAP, where the top two teams after the double eliminations earn a twice-to-beat bonus over the third and fourth-ranked squads. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)