NBA2K24 semis set for UAAP eSports

c/o UAAP

UAAP Esports NBA2K24 Standings

GROUP A:

UST 6 -1

Ateneo 5 - 2

UP 5 - 2

FEU 5 - 2

DLSU 3 - 4

ADU 2 - 5

UE 1 - 6

NU 0 - 6

GROUP B:

UST 7 - 0

DLSU 6 - 1

Ateneo 4 - 3

UE 3 - 4

FEU 3 - 4

NU 3 - 4

ADU 1 - 6

UP 1 - 6

Games Thursday at the Doreen Fernandez Black Box:

10 a.m. - UST A vs La Salle B (Final Four)

12 p.m. - Ateneo A vs UST B (Final Four)

3 p.m. - Battle for Third

5 p.m. - Finals

The University of Santo Tomas seeks to lock in a 1-2 finish when the NBA2K24 event of the UAAP eSports tournament kicks off its postseason on Thursday morning at the Doreen Fernandez Black Box at Areté inside the Ateneo de Manila University campus..

Represented by the Teletigers eSports Club, the Growling Tigers topped both groups at the end of pool play, with Erix Daniel Delos Reyes topping Group A at 6-1 and the duo of Gideon Marty del Val and Daemiel Erzbet Argame combining to finish Group with an undefeated record after seven matches.

UST's lone blemish in pool play came against the University of the Philippines, with the Maroons winning 48-35.

NBA2K head coach Augusto de Jesus III expressed joy in seeing both of his teams advancing into the next round, which will use a best-of-three format. He hopes for the possibility of seeing them face off in the finals, adding, "Mas magiging masaya ako kapag magkatapat ang both UST sa finals. Doble yung saya. Kaya mamaya, plano namin na mag-practice na sa mga malalapit na hotel dito, wala nang uwian."

Serving as the foil for such a prospect are the duo of Justin Carl Lagac and Paolo Jesus Medina of Ateneo de Manila, as well as Kegan Audric Yap of De La Salle University.

The Blue Eagles secured the second spot in Pool A through a superior quotient against UP and Far Eastern University, with all three teams toting a 5-2 record. Ateneo advanced with a +22 quotient, compared to 0 for the Maroons and -22 for Tamaraws eSports.

Yap finished second in Pool B with a 6-1 record for Viridis Arcus eSports. His head coach Rial Polog Jr. is confident that he can pull off the upset.

Polog shares, "Yeah, I am confident (mag-champion) kasi yung nakapasok sa playoffs ay team captain namin. So, I am super confident na makuha [namin] yung championship."

Yap and delos Reyes will kick off the semifinal matches at 10am, followed by Lagac/Medina against del Val/Argame at noon.

The winners will face off in the final at 5pm, with the third place game slated at 3pm.

All matches will be shown on the social platforms on One Sports, as well as on Pilipinas Live.