magazine

UAAP 82: Fighting Maroons eye outright finals berth
vs Growling Tigers
ABS-CBN News
University of the Philippines
tries to return to the UAAP
men's basketball title series when it
takes on University of Santo Tomas
in their Season 82 stepladder semifinal
at
Araneta
Coliseum
on Sunday.
Tip-off is
at 4 p.m.
A s
the No. 2
seed, the
Fighting
Maro ons
n e e d
to beat
the Growling Tigers just once
to arrange a finals duel with defending
champion Ateneo.
But against UST, UP has struggled
to come away with a win.
Coach Bo Perasol and his
crew finished the elimination
round with a 9-5 record, but
they lost both games to UST.
The Growling Tigers
routed UP 85-69 in the first
round, and were again winners,
84-78, in their rematch.
For UST coach Aldin Ayo, however,
his team's success against the
Fighting Maroons won't have any
bearing from this point onward.
"Some of you will say that
we are 2-0 against UP, but they are a
different team right now," Ayo said.
"'Yung mga nangyari doon sa
elimination, it won't matter anymore
because they're a different team."
This will be the third time
the two schools will face each other
this season, but the first time
both of them are in full strength.
Kobe Paras was out in the
initial meeting because he was rehabilitating
a sprained ankle at the
time, while Rhenz Abando was
benched
in the
October
game.
While
UP is
c o m -
ing off a
10-day
b r e a k ,
t h e
Growling
Tigers are only 4 days removed
from a strong performance
against Far Eastern University,
a game in which they started off
hot, cooled down, before developing
nerves of steel to down the
third-seeded Tamaraws 81-71.
The result paved the
way for UST to advance.
UP, meanwhile, hopes the
extended layoff helps the Season
81 runners-up to figure out
how to solve the Growling Tigers.
The Fighting Maroons' last
game wasn't pretty, an 86-64 loss
to Ateneo that gave the Blue Eagles
a 14-0 finish to the preliminaries.
Perasol searches for positives
after another massive loss to Ateneo
"Well, I don't want to make excuses
about it. The point is, we really
got outplayed," Perasol said.
"Ateneo kasi is a cut above the
rest. We cannot compare ourselves
with them as of right now."
UST will rely on league MVP
Soulemane Chabi Yo and Rookie
of the Year Mark Nonoy,
along with a feisty group that
includes Abando, CJ Cansino,
Brent Paraiso and Renzo Subido.
Meanwhile, UP boasts a
star-studded roster that includes
Paras, Ricci Rivero, Juan Gomez
di Liaño and Bright Akhuetie.
"We have to honor our position
(as the No. 2 seed) by preparing
really hard," Perasol said.
"Because, while it is true na nandyan
kami sa position na yan, it's not a sure
thing that we're going to the finals."
KATIPUNEROS : SA BAGONG PANAHON
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