UNIVERSITY of the Philippines and National University booked the first two Final Four berths after beating separate foes in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament yesterday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Fighting Maroons brushed off University of the East, 79-72, to advance to the Final Four for the fifth consecutive season.

The Bulldogs topped Far Eastern University, 68-57, to reach the Final Four for a second season in a row.

Not only UP and NU improved their records to 9-2 but also to gain the needed separation against La Salle, which was playing Adamson last night, in the chase for the two twice-to-beat slot in the Final Four.

Earlier, defending champion Ateneo pulled off a 67-59 victory over University of Santo Tomas to check a three-game slide and wheel back to Final Four contention.

The Blue Eagles, who are now playing catch-up with the Falcons in the race for the fourth spot, remained outside the top four range despite improving their record to 5-6.

The Growling Tigers, who fell to league-worst 1-10, will miss the Final Four for the third straight season.

The Fighting Maroons had a double celebration, as the rejuvinated women’s team achieved their first Final Four appearance since 2008.

UP hammered out a 70-55 win over FEU at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Also making it to the women’s Final Four are titleholder NU, which subdued La Salle, 73-64, and UST, which overwhelmed UE, 103-54.

The Lady Bulldogs and the Fighting Maroons remain at 1-2 with 10-1 and 9-2 marks, while the third-running Tigresses are not far behind at 8-3.

Jhaz Joson fired a career-high 32 points as Ateneo downed Adamson, 69-61, for its seventh win in 11 games. The Blue Eagles are three games ahead over the Lady Archers (4-7) in the race for the remaining Final Four slot.

Rookie Francis Lopez scored the game’s biggest basket, as the Las Piñas native soared for the alley-oop layup off the JD Cagulangan lob pass to give UP a 75-72 cushion, with 33.3 seconds left.

It was a sorry defeat for the Red Warriors, who have lost eight in row against the Fighting Maroons since 2018, as they forced the game’s final deadlock at 69-69 on a Jack Cruz-Dumont triple with 3:47 remaining before falling short.

“We were just looking for a bounce-back game after losing the last one,” said UP deputy coach Christian Luanzon, who spoke on behalf of head mentor Goldwin Monteverde.

“There are things to improve, especially sa second half namin wherein there were stretches where we were flat. But you know, a win is a win and it was a much-needed win, especially coming off a loss,” he added.

Reigning MVP Malick Diouf, back after missing the Fighting Maroons’ 79-88 loss to the Green Archers due to illness, produced a double-double outing of 19 points and 15 rebounds while CJ Cansino chipped in 17 points.

With three games left in the eliminations, NU coach Jeff Napa is pushing his troops to elevate their level of play not and focus on what’s on the table to bag the twice-to-beat Final Four bonus.

“Yung twice-to-beat ibibigay talaga sa amin, pero iyon ang sinabi ko sa kanila, kailangan nating paghirapan. Mas masarap pag pinaghirapan. May return lahat iyon kapag pinaghihirapan,” said Napa.

Jake Figueroa led the Bulldogs with 15 points and six rebounds while Ian Manansala and PJ Palacielo added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

“Still blessed kasi nakuha namin itong W,” said Napa. “Credits sa mga players namin talaga. They really stepped up especially nung second half. Talagang, yung desire na gusto nila makuha yung W lumabas.”

The Tamaraws, who drew 14 points and 11 rebounds from Ljay Gonzales, stumbled to a 3-8 card.

The scores:

First game

Ateneo (66) – Ballungay 15, Koon 12, Brown 10, Amos 8, Celis 8, Obasa 7, Nieto 3, Quitevis 2, Chiu 2, Credo 0, Lazaro 0, Espinosa 0, Gomez 0.
UST (59) – Cabañero 16, Pangilinan 13, Duremdes 9, Manalang 6, Magdangal 5, Laure 4, Llemit 3, Manaytay 2, Calum 1, Crisostomo 0, Moore 0, Gesalem 0, Lazarte 0.
Quarterscores: 22-12, 43-29, 50-43, 66-59

Second game

UP (79) – Diouf 19, Cansino 17, Cagulangan 9, Lopez 8, Abadiano 8, Alarcon 4, Torres 3, Pablo 3, Felicilda 2, Torculas 2, Belmonte 2, Alter 2, Fortea 0.
UE (72) – Cruz-Dumont 19, Momowei 14, Remogat 12, Sawat 11, Maglupay 4, Galang 4, Tulabut 2, Lingolingo 2, Cabero 2, Gilbuena 2.
Quarterscores: 17-21, 43-38, 60-55, 79-72

Third game

NU (68) – Figueroa 15, Manansala 11, Palacielo 10, Malonzo 9, Baclaan 7, John 7, Lim 5, Jumamoy 2, Gulapa 2, Yu 0, Parks 0, Casinillo 0, Delos Reyes 0.
FEU (57) – Gonzales 14, Torres 11, Bautista 10, Sleat 8, Añonuevo 6, Tempra 4, Faty 3, Ona 1, Bagunu 0, Competente 0, Felipe 0.
Quarterscores: 21-18, 37-32, 58-46, 68-57.