Games Saturday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
9:30 a.m. – NUNS vs FEU-D (16U Finals Game 1)
11:30 a.m. – UST vs NU (women’s Finals Game 1)
3:30 p.m. – La Salle vs NU (men’s semis Game 2)
By MARK REY MONTEJO
With their title hopes on the line, both squads are bound to hit full throttle and empty the tank, knowing there’s no tomorrow.
And expect nothing less than all-out performances from La Salle and National University as they square off for one last time this Season 88 in Game 2 of the UAAP men’s basketball semifinals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Saturday, Dec. 6.
As they finally cracked NU’s code this year with an 87-77 Game 1 triumph, the Green Archers aim to repeat their mastery against the league-leading Bulldogs in their 3:30 p.m. showdown at the Big Dome, where women’s and 16U finals openers also get going.
The winning school would forge a title clash against reigning champion University of the Philippines, which booked its Finals ticket after notching an 82-81 escape over host University of Santo Tomas, behind Terrence Fortea’s game-winning triple.
La Salle head coach Topex Robinson was well aware of the twice-to-beat card holder NU looking forward to bouncing back and the lesson from their first semis encounter would be crucial, particularly the proper way of preserving the ball.
“The game on Saturday will be harder, this team will not roll down and we just have to make sure that we’ll always be humbled by this experience, knowing that we still made a ton of mistakes in the things that we shouldn’t have done,” said Robinson.
“So we just wanna learn and those moments of learning that we got here, we’re gonna make sure that will bring it come Saturday’s game,” he added.
Though the Taft-based crew kept afloat throughout the majority of the match – as the Bulldogs had taken the upper hand once, 2-0, in the opening frame – it turned the ball over for 17 times, compared to NU’s 15.
But good thing, Jacob Cortez didn’t disappopoint in his UAAP semis debut as he took the spotlight alongside returnee Kean Baclaan who also delivered in almost 20 minutes of play. The two shifty guards paved the way for La Salle with a big boost coming off the bench.
Besides Cortez, skipper Mike Phillips, Vhoris Marasigan, and JC Macalalag, second-stringers EJ Gollena, Luis Pablo, and Mason Amos delivered ample offensive support for the Archers, helping neutralize the scoring threats of Jake Figueroa and Omar John for NU.
Figueroa and John were the only double-digit scorers for the Sampaloc cager with 20 and 12 points, respectively. The two frontmen must have better contributions from Steve Nash Enriquez, Jolo Manansala, Reinhard Jumamoy, Mark Parks, Gelo Santiago, and PJ Palacielo, to list a few, if they are looking to live their contention for another day.
