Dindo, younger of the two, led the University of the East to a 59-51 victory over giant-killer Adamson University in the first game, while Franz steered La Salle past dangerous University of Santo Tomas, 79-75, in the second match as action heated up in the 67th UAAP basketball wars at the Araneta Coliseum.

"This was the first time we played on the same day and hopefully this is not going to be the last time," said Franz, who is in his seventh year as head mentor of the Green Archers.

The Archers saw their win-loss card improve to 3-2 not without having their backs pressed hard against the wall by the Tigers.

When it appeared that La Salle was going to pull away at 74-67, 3:11 remaining in the game, Santo Tomas turned to Jemal Vizcarra, Warren de Guzman and Allan Evangelista to shove the Tigers to within 73-76, 40 seconds left.

After Mark Cardona halved his free throws, 11.4 seconds on the clock, Danilo Pribhdas scored on a fastbreak layup to enable the Tigers to threaten.

But Junjun Cabatu’s free throws off a quick Pribhdas foul with 2.9 seconds to go settled the matter.

"It’s always been tough playing UST because they’re unorthodox," said Franz. "Their lineup throws you off."

While Franz almost had to go deep down the well to survive, Dindo had a much lighter stint on the coaching floor.

The Red Warriors took full advantage of a listless bunch of Falcons obviously spent from the aftermath of their rousing win over the Archers.

"I observed that Adamson did not have the fire seen during its past four games," said Dindo, who, before the tournament began, admitted the current UE lineup is being groomed for the next few seasons.