Games on Saturday
2 p.m. - UP vs. FEU
4 p.m. - UE vs. La Salle

Far Eastern University beat Adamson University, 84-75, to clinch a Final Four berth on Thusday in the UAAP basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum.

It was the ninth win in 11 starts for the Tamaraws who joined defending champion Ateneo in the semifinals with still three games to play.

The loss, the Falcons' eighth in 11 games, put a damper on Adamson's semifinals bid as the Falcons now have to win all their remaining games while praying that both University of the East and University of Santo Tomas lose all their assignments.

The Eagles, meanwhile, gained at least a playoff for one oftwo twice-to-beat incentives with their 11th win against a solitary loss after a 75-54 rout of the National University Bulldogs in the second game.

The Eagles allowed the BUlldogs only the luxury of sinking the game's first basket, a trey by Kokoy Hermosisima for a 3-0 NU lead 28 seconds gone in the game.

The Eagles, however, struck for a 28-0 blitz to all but ice the game.

For a while in the opening game, the Tamaraws seemed headed for trouble as they trailed the Falcons after the first 10 minutes, 13-20.

But the Tamaraws finally found their bearing and steadily gnawed at the Falcons' lead before finally gaining a 45-39 halftime edge and stayed on top the rest of the way, fending off repeatde rallies by Adamson.

But FEU coach Glenn Capacio was disappointed with his wards' sluggish play.

"We're struggling right now. Hindi ako satisfied sa pagka panalo namin. Pero at least this is a test of character for us," said Capacio, whose team won despite getting outrebounded, 31-48, and making 19 turnovers against Adamson's 17.

Rookie RR Garcia hit it big for the Tams in the payoff period after Adamson came to within three points, 69-66. He completed a rare four-point play off Alex Nuyles with 5:37 left and followed this up with a trey two minutes later in a 9-2 FEU blast for a 78-68 cushion going into the last two minutes.

The 19-year old Garcia finished with a career-high 25 point on 9-of-11 shooting.

Prior to Thursday's game, Garcia was averaging 8.5 points and a dismal 7-of-24 shooting, including missing all 12 treys, in the last two games.

The scores:

First Game
FEU 84 - Garcia 25, Barroca 15, Ramos 10, Cervantes 10, Cawaling 10, Eguilos 7, Sanga 5, Noundou 2, Vinluan 0, Tanuan 0, Knuttel 0, Caluag 0.
ADAMSON 75 - Canuday 12, Cañada 12, Alvarez 12, Camson 11, Colina 8, Nuyles 6, Balsilio 5, Galinato 4, Cabrera 3, Lozada 2, Sandoval 0, Margallo 0, Lapitan 0.
Quarters: 13-20, 45-39, 59-57, 84-75.

Second Game
ATENEO 75 - Buenafe 23, Al-Hussaini 15, Sumalinog 7, Reyes 6, Tiongson 5, Chua 5, Salva 3, Monfort 3, Long 3, de Chavez 3, Gonzaga 2, Salamat 0, Golla 0, Burke 0, Baclao 0, Austria 0.
NU 54 - Hermosisima 19, Baloran 10, Ponferrada 6, Donahue 6, Terso 5, Roy 3, Luy 3, Singh 2, Manito 0, Magat 0, Fabula 0, Cabaluna 0, Batac 0.
Quarters: 16-3, 42-10, 57-23, 75-54.