With only three playing dates left in the first round, UAAP Season 85 men’s basketball action gets tighter on Wednesday, October 19, with another jam-packed quadruple-header at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
NU (4-1) vs La Salle (3-2)
At 11 am, the surprise leaders NU Bulldogs try to keep their winning streak going as they go up against the La Salle Green Archers.
With the Bulldogs now gunning for their fourth straight victory, look for NU to rely once again on its well-balanced attack on offense as four players are averaging more than 8 points per ball game, with veteran swingman John Lloyd Clemente leading the way with 10.8 points, followed by rookie Kean Baclaan with 10.4 markers.
On the other side, count on Schonny Winston to light it up once more for La Salle as he has been carrying the team’s scoring load this season with 24 points per contest on a high 48.4% field goal shooting.
Ateneo (3-2) vs Adamson (2-3)
Fresh off a stinging overtime loss to the UP Fighting Maroons, the Ateneo Blue Eagles shoot for a bounce-back win over the Adamson Soaring Falcons, who are also coming off a defeat last weekend.
Despite a huge double-double outing by Dave Ildefonso and a clutch performance by Forthsky Padrigao last Sunday, Ateneo failed to exact revenge on UP in the rematch of last season’s epic finals showdown.
Expect Ildefonso, Padrigao, and reigning league MVP Ange Kouame to take care of business in this 1 pm affair as it takes on a feisty Adamson squad led by spitfire guard Jerom Lastimosa.
UP (4-1) vs UE (3-2)
In arguably the most exciting matchup of the day, the UP Fighting Maroons aim for their second straight win as they face the red-hot UE Red Warriors, who are currently enjoying a two-game winning streak.
Coming off a confidence-boosting bounce-back victory last Sunday, watch out for UP’s usual suspects Carl Tamayo, Malick Diouf, Zav Lucero, as well as Season 84 finals hero JD Cagulangan, who finally made his Season 85 debut against Ateneo, to flex their dominance against UE in this surefire dogfight at 4:30 pm.
Meanwhile, look for UAAP’s top player of the week Luis Villegas and Paranada brothers Kyle and Nikko to lay it all on the line for UE as it tries to pull off an upset of the defending champion for its third straight victory.
FEU (0-5) vs UST (1-4)
At 6:30 pm, the FEU Tamaraws hope to finally capture their breakthrough win in Season 85 as they collide with fellow slumping UST Growling Tigers.
Expect FEU’s LJay Gonzales and UST’s Nic Cabañero, who both stuffed the stat sheet in their respective losses last weekend, to translate their huge performances into a victory as the Tamaraws try to put an end to their worst start in the UAAP since the Final Four era, while the Growling Tigers aim to snap out of their four-game losing skid.
