game on wednesday
(SM Mall of Asia Arena)
8 am – FEU vs. Ateneo (Women)
10 am – NU vs UP (Women)
Afternoon – UST vs ADU (Women)
2pm – UST vs ADU (Men)
4:30 pm – UE vs DLSU (Men)
7 PM – UE vs DLSU (Women)
Undermanned but red-hot De La Salle University (DLSU) faced a familiar opponent in the University of the East (UE) to come out on top in the UAAP Season 88 men's basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday.
Game time is 4:30 pm, with the banged-up DLSU Green Archers looking for their fourth consecutive win against the same team that started their streak to catch title holders University of the Philippines (UP) in second place. University of Santo Tomas (UST) and Adamson University (4-4) clash at 2 pm
At 5-3, La Salle is tied for third place with Santo Tomas with one win, moving it to a piece of the coveted No. 2 seed in the Final Four thanks to the twice-to-beat advantage.
In the first round, the Green Archers had their backs against the wall outside the top 4 with a 2-3 slate and earned a much-needed 111-110 overtime win over UE.
However, that victory came at a great cost as Kean Baklan suffered a season-ending MCL injury and then Mason Amos suffered the same injury before the match against National University.
The same game resulted in UE guard Velo Lingolingo being suspended for three games for an unsportsmanlike foul for diving onto Mr. Baklan's knee and UE mentor Chris Gavina being given a four-game ban for swearing at the umpiring after the game.
And while the Green Archers could have bowed their heads, melted away and sunk from there, the development has inspired their hearts to set out to mount a title retention bid with an incomplete squad.
“We're losing players and that's one of our motivations, and it's very fortunate that players are always ready to contribute,” embattled coach Topex Robinson said.
“We always talk about ‘we, us and our.’ It’s always about what you can bring to the bigger piece of the pie SA Team. You lose some players, you gain some players.”
Sans Messrs. Bakalan and Amos, Taft's hoopers actually found new heroes in Voris Marasigan, JC Macallagh and Earl Abadam, who complemented Jacob Cortez and Mike Phillips in their streak – now the longest in the UAAP – which included a mammoth 72-69 score over UP to end the first round.
“Everyone is finding their way to contribute to this team. You didn't get into this program by accident. You came here because we saw something in you. It's just about getting called up and being ready. It's fun to see those guys respond to the challenge,” Mr. Robinson said.
Yui advances to battle with two warriors as well as Mr. Lingolingo and Mr. Gavina suffering their second suspension in a battle to win to keep their semi-final hopes alive at 0-8.
Mathematically with only NU and UP having six wins each, the Red Warriors can still catch the playoff bus, but only if they win all of their remaining games. , John Brian Ulande
