University of Santo Tomas shoots for a rebound win and an elimination sweep of De La Salle University as two of the top contenders begin their respective second-round stint in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Saturday, Oct. 25.
Reeling from a 69-59 loss to Adamson that snapped their three-game win streak, the Growling Tigers seek to regain their footing with a morale-boosting victory against the depleted Green Archers.
With both teams coming from a brief respite, UST and La Salle are expected to leave it all on the floor in their 4:30 p.m. duel which will go after a 1:30 p.m. face-off between the Soaring Falcons and University of the East Red Warriors.
Touted as one of the title favorites, the España-based squad, which is currently at second spot with a 5-2 card just behind leader National University (6-2), needs to turn its last game’s heartbreak into inspiration when it goes up against the ballers from Taft.
Nic Cabañero must produce another splendid showing for the Pido Jarencio-mentored squad to be able to pull off such a tough task with the support of Forthsky
Padrigao, Collins Akowe, Gelo Crisostomo, Mark Llemit, Amiel Acido, and Kyle Paranada.
“The darkest part of the game was when we were down by [12], but you saw that UST last year is not the same as this year. Medyo mas confident na kami dito sa laro na ‘to,” said UST assistant coach Peter Martin in their first encounter with La Salle.
Meanwhile, La Salle (5-3) is also reeling from its 93-84 loss to UST last Sept. 27 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
That loss ended the Green Archers’ 16-game winning streak over the Tigers which started way back in Season 78 in 2015.
“We cannot look at the whole piece of the pie right now, but just try to look for who’s in front of us,” said La Salle head coach Topex Robinson. “We’re still lot of work to do.”
With Mason Amos and Kean Baclaan sidelined, Mike Phillips and Jacob Cortez have no choice but to spearhead the attack alongside Luis Pablo, EJ Gollena, Earl Abadam, and Vhoris Marasigan providing ample distributions.
Meanwhile, Adamson hopes to chase the leaders in the Final Four race when it collides with UE, which is hoping to put an end to its seven-game losing skid.
Holding a 3-4 tally, the Falcons rely anew on AJ Fransman, Cedrick Manzano, Ray Allen Torres, and Matt Montebo against Precious Momowei and John Abate of the Warriors.
In the women's division, UST and La Salle close out the six-game action at 7 p.m., with the former shooting for an eight consecutive victory. Adamson and UE kickstart the matches in the distaff side at 11:30 a.m.
Rising stars from the U16 class ignite the morning with matches featuring UE-La Salle (7:30 a.m.) and UST-Adamson (9:30 a.m.)
