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De La Salle University guns for the twice-to-beat
incentive when it takes on archrival Ateneo de Manila University in
the 71st University Athletic Association of the Philippines UAAP
men’s basketball tournament on Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum.
With coach Franz Pumaren back in
the fold, the defending champion Green Archers are expected to go
all out against the Blue Eagles at 4 p.m. to firm its grip in the
No. 2 spot that offers the important semis bonus.
University of Santo Tomas and
University of the Philippines are just looking to finish their
season on a winning note in their 2 p.m. encounter.
Ateneo earned the top spot in the
semis with 12-1 record followed by No. 2 La Salle (10-3), No. 3 Far
Eastern University (FEU) (10-4) and No. 4 University of the East
(9-5).
If La Salle loses, it will face
FEU in a playoff on Thursday to determine the No. 2 seed.
Pumaren, who’s raring to get
back at Ateneo following their 73-79 first round loss, will bank on
Jayvee Casio, Rico Maierhofer and James Mangahas.
The Eagles, on the other hand,
will rely on Most Valuable Player candidates Rabeh Al-Hussaini and
Chris Tiu.
“We will still go all out to
win, we want to enter the playoffs on a high note,” said Ateneo
coach Norman Black.
--Emil Noguera
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