7:30 a.m. – Ateneo vs La Salle Zobel (16U)

9:30 a.m. – UST vs FEU-D (16U)

11:30 a.m. – UST vs FEU (women's)

1:30 p.m. – UST vs FEU (men's)

4:30 p.m. – Ateneo vs La Salle (men's)

7 p.m. – Ateneo vs La Salle (women's)

When a season is on the line and the teams involved for the fourth and last semis berth have storied – make it heated – rivalry in the past, expect no room for error and another chapter of interesting tales.

Also expect an all-out performance and a championship-like atmosphere as De La Salle and Ateneo duke it out in another important game – one that is likely to fill the Smart Araneta Coliseum to the rafters on Wednesday, Nov. 26, as the race for the No. 4 reaches its boiling point.

Game time is set at 4:30 p.m. with the 7-6 Archers determined to get back at 6-7 Blue Eagles to avoid complications.

A La Salle win will settle everything, and the Archers will join early semifinalists National University (11-3), University of the Philippines (10-4) and University of Santo Tomas (8-5).

But if Ateneo wins and Far Eastern University – also toting a 6-7 mark – beats UST in their 1:30 p.m. showdown, a three-way tie for No. 4 will ensue.

If that happens, the team with the highest quotient will earn a bye as No. 4 while the two other teams – Nos. 5 and 6 -- clash for the right to meet the fourth placer.

Though the Archers are coming off an 87-82 win over the Maroons, they will be without EJ Gollena who was suspended one game for a disqualifying foul after hitting UP’s Francis Nnoruka.

But La Salle coach Topex Robinson remains unfazed.

“What’s important for us is just to prepare ourselves for the battle. What’s good about this, kahit nasaang posisyon ka, if it’s going to be Ateneo-La Salle, you know it’s going to be a grind-out game,” said Robinson.

During their first encounter, Ateneo roared to a commanding 64-33 lead early on but needed to fend off the mighty fightback of La Salle to prevail, 81-74.

That was not lost on the mind of Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin, saying the scare gave them valuable lessons that enabled them to hurdle one obstacle after another.

“In a way, I think La Salle helped us a lot by fighting back in that game and not giving up. Because they gave a template to other teams to try to extend pressure and it's something that we realized we had to work on,” said Baldwin.

“So we got much better at that and I certainly don't think that the character of the next game with La Salle is going to look like that one. I would imagine that it'll be a tough, closely fought, competitive game,” he added.

Without Gollena, Gillian Quines has to bring out his A-game to help his fellow guards Jacob Cortez, Vhoris Marasigan, Earl Abadam, Doy Dungo, and JC Macalalag with Phillips, Mason Amos, and Luis Pablo manning the paint.

For the Ateneo side, Baldwin can always count on one-and-done Kymani Ladi, Jaden Lazo, and Dom Escobar to help Shawn Tuano, Waki Espina, Divine Adili, Ian Espinosa and Jared Bahay.

Meanwhile, FEU, fueled by an 84-77 triumph over University of the East, hopes to live for another day as it seeks vengeance against UST.

Led by Kyle Paranada, Nic Cabanero, Gelo Crisostomo, Forthsky Padrigao, and Collins Akowe, the Tigers beat the Tamaraws, 92-80, the first time they clashed.

In women’s play, UST (13-0) shoots for an outright Finals berth as it goes for a 14 in a row against FEU (6-7).

A win by the Lady Tamaraws in their 11:30 a.m. would forge them a playoff with the Adamson Lady Falcons.