TWO teams are set to make their much-awaited return to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Final Four with hosts San Sebastian College-Recoletos Golden Stags grabbing the last seat in the Final Four stepladder bus to book a date with the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers this Friday.
The Stags upended the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights in a tiebreaker playoff 74-69 at the San Juan Arena last Tuesday and will next face an explosive JRU squad to jumpstart the NCAA Final Four, which will air LIVE on ABS-CBN S+A, S+A HD, and via livestream on sports.abs-cbn.com at 3:30 p.m.
The hosts hope to ride on the momentum from their last game to keep dancing in the post-season play in the NCAA.
Michael Calisaan led the Golden Stags, as he has done all season long, when he dropped a career-high 36 points on the Knights including the dagger trey with 18.3 seconds left to seal the deal last Tuesday. This marks the first time in four years, and for head coach Egay Macaraya, that the Stags made it to the Final Four after always making it to the post-season during the “Pinatubo Trio” era of Calvin Abueva, Ian Sanggalang, and Ronald Pascual.
On the other hand, the Heavy Bombers booked their seat stress-free by grabbing the third seed. The Vergel Meneses-mentored squad, who recaptured their seat at the elite table after placing a fifth last season, will be leaning on their star guards Teodoro and Mendoza for a deeper run in the post-season, and as a fitting graduation gift to seniors like Teodoro and veteran forward John Grospe.
The new stepladder format went into effect after the unbeaten Lyceum of the Philippines University Pirates’ gutsy double-overtime victory over the defending champion San Beda to complete their elimination round sweep. The teams positioned between 2-4 figure in a win-or-go-home series of games starting with the duel of the third seed and fourth seed for the right to face the Red Lions, who hold the second seed.
Don’t miss the heart-pounding hardcourt action of the Men’s Basketball Tournament stepladder Final Four with the JRU Heavy Bombers taking on the SSC-R Golden Stags this Friday live on S+A, S+A HD, and via livestream on sports.abs-cbn.com at 3:30 p.m.
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