ANOTHER action-packed weekend awaits collegiate basketball fans, as the league nears the finish of the first round of Season 87’s men’s basketball tournament.
This weekend’s games will be critical in a variety of ways for the teams looking to strengthen their hold on a Final Four spot, even at this early stage.
The UAAP pot continues to heat up with UP Fighting Maroons attempting to maintain their perfect record when they face the Adamson Soaring Falcons, while the loser of the DLSU Green Archers and UST Growling Tigers game will suffer their second loss.
The games are likely to shake up the standings before the second round, with must-see storylines on both Saturday and Sunday.
UP against the Falcons
The Fighting Maroons are currently the league’s dominant team, with an immaculate 4-0 win-loss record. Meanwhile, the Soaring Falcons are hoping to improve their 3-2 record.
However, UP has been on a tear, wrecking the league game by game, winning all four by double digits. Their most recent game was a 69-58 victory over the struggling FEU Tamaraws.
The Falcons are coming off a 60-58 victory over the Bulldogs thanks to Joshua Yerro’s perfectly designed game-winning tip, which should set them up for a strong performance against the Fighting Maroons.
“I’m excited for the challenge. You know they are a good team and undefeated, but just like the UE-La Salle game, everything can happen. Hopefully, we can come out very best and come out with a win,” said Matt Montebon.
Nonetheless, the Diliman squad is ready to face Adamson. For them, the most important thing is to see themselves progress game after game, preparing them for their desired come back season.
“What’s important for our team is everybody is on the same page and having the same goal. Obviously, that goal is putting ourselves in the best position to win,” said Christian Luanzon, one of Goldwin Monteverde’s assistant coaches.
TAFT day for USTE
The reigning champions, on the other side, will face a revamped Growling Tigers. La Salle and USTE are presently competing for the second slot in the standings, with records of 4-1 and 3-1, respectively.
Before winning their prior games, both of these teams experienced their first losses. However, the winning ways were difficult, as both DLSU and UST secured it in a close game.
La Salle defeated FEU 68-62, bouncing back after their devastating loss to the UE Red Warriors. Meanwhile, UST defeated the NU Bulldogs, 67-64, owing to Forthsky Padrigao’s game-winning basket.
“A win is a win, two points, three points, one point. This is a total team effort lahat nagtulungan,” said UST head coach Pido Jarencio. “The will to win, nandoon. This is a total team effort. I hope we sustain this.”
Topex Robinson, the Green Archers’ head coach, saw the loss to the Red Warriors as a well-deserved win for the other team. This also serves as proof to his players that this season would be more difficult than the previous one.
“We don’t really consider it as an upset and UE just gave us something that really helped us. I guess, it kinda cleaned up the pressure of not losing,” explained Robinson to the media.
“I guess what it did to us as a team was it grounded us. It just reminded us that this season for us is gonna be hard and even harder, just like what happened today with FEU,” added the second-year coach.
Today’s matchups will begin at 4:30 PM with UP and Adamson, followed by NU and UE’s bout for a better standing at 6:30 PM, all at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
On Sunday, DLSU and UST will compete for a solo second at 4:30 PM, while FEU will try to record their first win of the season against the similarly struggling ADMU at 6:30 PM at the Araneta Coliseum.
