Games Today (Philsports Arena)
2 p.m. — NU vs FEU
4 p.m. — UST vs UE

University of Santo Tomas and University of the East clash for the second place with Far Eastern University hoping to join the winner when it plays National University on Friday in the 72nd UAAP basketball tournament at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

The Growling Tigers seek to redeem themselves from a 77-93 loss to defending champion Ateneo while the Red Warriors try to follow up their 73-59 win over the Bulldogs last Sunday.

The Tamaraws, on the other hand, try to come out with a better performance from their slim 63-60 victory over Adamson two days ago.

In beating the Falcons, the Tamaraws had to rally from a nine-point deficit with then banked on Mark Barroca’s clutch shooting in the dying seconds to preserve the win.

That hard-earned victory did not satisfy FEU coach Glenn Capacio.

“Sa pinakita namin (against Adamson), hindi kami makascore, madami kaming namiss na freethrows at napakasama ng aming execution. Sana mas maganda ang ilaro namin sa next game,” Capacio said.

Behind RP team standout Dylan Ababou, Khazim Mirza and newcomer Allen Maliksi, UST had been the surprise team of the ongoing season owing to their 2-0 start but head coach Pido Jarencio is likewise far from satisfied.

“Kailangan mas maganda ang team effort namin at dapat hindi rin kami magmadali sa mga plays,” Jarencio said.

While UE drew strength on its run-and-gun offense, new head coach Lawrence Chongson admitted that they will need to play better defense.

“We tend to relax on defense and we have to improve on that,” said Chongson, who will rely on veterans Paul Lee, Pari Llagas, Elmer Espiritu and Rudy Lingganay.