De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde will look to seal its spot in the Final Four when it takes on fellow semifinals hopeful San Sebastian College-Recoletos on Tuesday in NCAA Season 98 at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.
Benilde and San Sebastian will go at it at 12 p.m. in a game where the stakes are high while University of Perpetual Help System DALTA and Arellano University, both of whom are already out of contention, will clash at 3 p.m.
A win will assure the Blazers the third Final Four ticket, which would allow them to join two-time defending champion Colegio de San Juan de Letran and Lyceum of the Philippines University.
The Taft crew is coming off a tough 89-83 loss to Perpetual last Friday, which came after the incident involving Jose Rizal University's John Amores. But the wards of head coach Charles Tiu are tipped to go all out against the Stags, especially with the return of big man Ladis Lepalam from a one-game ban.
Benilde, though, will still be without Mark Sangco and Chris Flores after the two were each slapped with two-game suspensions.
They will try to punch that semis ticket against San Sebastian, which is fighting for its life in its bid to make the playoffs. The Stags previously lost to Lyceum last Sunday and a win today could keep that hope alive.
Meanwhile, already-eliminated Perpetual and Arellano will battle for pride in the second game.
The ALTAs are actually on a roll, winning their last two games but by virtue of San Beda's win over Mapua University last Saturday, the Las Piñas formally bowed out of contention alongside Arellano and the Cardinals.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
