Games on Saturday (The Arena)
2 p.m. — NU vs UE
4 p.m. — FEU vs La Salle

After getting a new lease on life, La Salle tries to keep its Final Four dreams alive once again when it takes on the fancied Far Eastern University on Saturday in the 72nd UAAP basketball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Behind the heroics of veteran James Mangahas, the bald-headed Archers staved off early elimination Thursday beating Univesity of Santo Tomas, 68-64, in a win that halted a five-game losing run and remained in contention for the last semifinal seat heading into the final week of the elimination round.

The Archers and Tamaraws clash at 4 p.m. even as University of the East goes for its fifth straight win against National University at 2 p.m.

The Warriors formalized their entry into the Final Four with an 81-72 win over University of the Philippines. The win likewise boosted their bid to secure the second twice-to-beat advantage in the next round.

"We will not wait for the Final Four for us to wake up, we cannot afford to," said UE head coach Lawrence Chongson. "Every game from now on, playoffs na. We cannot let one game slip out of our hands."

Despite the hard fought victory, the Taft-based dribblers are still trailing the Tigers for the No. 4 spot in the standings. La Salle holds a 5-7 record while UST totes an even 6-6 card.

An Archers loss to the Tamaraws will cement UST’s Final Four bid.

But don’t tell that to La Salle coach Franz Pumaren.

Pumaren is optimistic that his youth-laden team can still earn a Final Four berth for the 15th time since the current format was introduced in 1994 despite the great odds.