Games Thursday
11 a.m. – EAC vs. San Beda
1 p.m. – LPU vs San Sebastian
3 p.m. – Letran vs. Arellano
5 p.m. – FEU vs. NU
Letran goes for a fifth straight win when the Knights tackle the Arellano University Chiefs in the 19th Filoil Ecooil Preseason Cup at the Playtime Filoil Centre in San Juan.
“Ang maganda kasi sa mga bata, nakaka-recover sila. May mga mistakes pa rin pero kaya naman naming itama,” said coach Allen Ricardo of his team’s resolve after pulling off a 71-65 win over Emilio Aguinaldo College on Tuesday.
Thanks to superb guards Titing Manalili and Jimboy Estrada, and frontcourt bigs Kevin Santos, George Diamante, and Aaron Buensalida, the Knights now have a 4-1 record.
It’s the complete opposite for the Chiefs which have been on the short end of the stick in their three games — all of which going into overtime including their 78-76 meltdown against Perpetual.
Pressure is on T-Mc Ongotan and Maverick Vinoya to help Arellano break through when they collide at 3 p.m.
National University (2-1) and Far Eastern University (1-1) also face off in the lone UAAP Group matchup in the quadruple-header, with both teams wanting to stabilize what has been an up-and-down preseason campaign.
For the 2-1 Bulldogs, it’s a matter of stringing sets of wins after their 74-66 victory over Adamson last May 21 where Reinhard Jumamoy and Mo Diassana gave everyone a glimpse of their solid partnership.
But the Tamaraws (1-1) aren’t ready to roll over especially after experiencing a tough 83-75 defeat to University of Santo Tomas last Saturday, where the efforts of Janrey Pasaol, Kirby Mongcopa, and Mo Konateh were put to waste.
San Beda (2-0) also stakes its undefeated record against EAC (1-1) at the 11 a.m. curtain-raiser, while cellar-dwelling San Sebastian (0-2) eyes its first win against the skidding Lyceum of the Philippines University (1-4) at 1 p.m.
