Reigning champion University of the Philippines and Ateneo de Manila University are out to forge a championship rematch when they tackle separate foes in the Final Four of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 85 men’s basketball tournament today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Armed with twice-to-beat advantages, both the Fighting Maroons and the Blue Eagles need to hurdle National University and Adamson University, respectively, to arrange a mouthwatering best-of-three finals showdown between two of the best collegiate basketball programs in the country.
UP faces NU at 2 p.m. while Ateneo battles Adamson at 6 p.m.
The Fighting Maroons closed the elimination round tied with the Blue Eagles with an 11-3 win-loss record. Ateneo, however, took the top spot due to its higher quotient.
The Bulldogs landed at No. 3 after finishing the eliminations with a 9-5 card while the Falcons punched the last ticket to the Final Four after booting out De La Salle University in a playoff last Sunday.
UP and NU split their head-to-head duels in the eliminations.
The Bulldogs handed the Fighting Maroons their first loss of the season, 80-75, on 12 October before UP got its payback in the second round last 30 October, 75-63.
Projected Most Valuable Player Malick Diouf, Carl Tamayo, Zavier Lucero, James Spencer and Cyril Gonzales will be UP head coach Goldwin Monteverde’s go-to guys against NU, which closed its eliminations campaign with back-to-back defeats.
On the other hand, the Jeff Napa-mentored Bulldogs will bank on John Lloyd Clemente, Jake Figueroa, Steve Nash Enriquez, Omar John and Kean Baclaan to keep their finals hopes alive.
Game 2, if necessary, will be on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Meanwhile, the Blue Eagles are oozing with confidence after notching six straight wins to emerge as the top seed after the double-round eliminations.
But Falcons coach Nash Racela believes beating Ateneo is not impossible.
“We know how tough they are as a team. But again, you know, nothing is impossible in this world,” the defiant mentor said following their 80-76 escape over La Salle in the playoff for the No. 4 seed.
“We look at our run, a month ago, we were down? I think at sixth or seventh. All of a sudden, we made a run which surprised a lot of people that’s why we’re now in the Final Four. So, we have that mentality that you know, nothing is impossible. It’s not impossible to win, as long as we do our part.”
Jerom Lastimosa is again at the forefront of the Falcons’ first Final Four stint since 2018 backed by Joshua Yerro, Leda Douanga, Adrian Manlapaz and Cedrick Manzano, who were all instrumental in booting out the Green Archers.
Ateneo will rely on Mythical Team members Forthsky Padrigao and Dave Ildefonso along with former MVP Ange Kouame, BJ Andrade, and Kai Ballungay to enter the finals for the sixth straight season.
