Four teams seek crucial wins in the hopes of securing respective Final Four berths in the UAAP Season 84 men's basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena on Thursday, April 28.

De La Salle is out to get a firm grip of its solo third against fifth-seeded squad Adamson in their 12:30 p.m. encounter while Far Eastern University faces a tall order in keeping its No. 4 spot against reigning champion Ateneo, which already secured a twice-to-beat advantage in the playoffs alongside University of the Philippines, at the 4:30 p.m. match.

National University, tied with Adamson at fifth, is also joining the fray and takes on the winless University of the East at 10 a.m. while the Fighting Maroons and the already ran University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers cap off the quadruple-header at 7 p.m.

A win by the Green Archers would easily propel them to a solid third place in the same way that a victory by the Tamaraws would take them one step ahead at fourth in the standings.

On other hand, should the Soaring Falcons and the Bulldogs win their respective matches, they are bound to figure in another two-way tie at fifth.

In the event that Ateneo remains unbeaten, FEU, Adamson, and NU will once again share fourth place and the last game day on May 1, Labor day would determine the complete Final Four cast.

That said, the Archers, the Tamaraws, the Falcons, and the Bulldogs enter the most important week of the season as only two more teams would be left standing tall for the playoff contention.

Dropping the twice-to-beat advantage, De La Salle shifted its focus on getting back to winning ways and securing the No. 3 seed after suffering back-to-back losses at the hands of UP and FEU.

"We're honestly really desperate to get the win para we'll be like solo third or whatever happens, 'di ba? So yeah, we're just focusing one game at a time," said Archers guard Evan Nelle.

"Sayang talaga 'yong today (Tuesday) kasi this was our chance to separate from everybody else pero we still have Thursday and Sunday just to reach the Final Four and get No. 3, go on from there."

Tamaraws head coach Olsen Racela, for his part, puts his trust to his wards and believes that the ticket to the Final Four is already within reach after getting three wins in a row.

Not looking at any other scenarios, the long-time FEU coach reminded his players to concentrate on their own business and nobody else's.

"'Di namin kailangan ng tulong ng ibang teams. It's gonna be a tall order (against Ateneo), mahirap kalaban, hindi pa natatalo Ateneo pero bilog ang bola sabi nga nila," said the PBA legend. "So we're gonna ride on this momentum and 'yong confidence level that we have right now, susubukan natin."