UP, NU seek to conclude collegiate basketball season

c/o UAAP

Games today at the SM Mall of Asia Arena

10 a.m. – UE vs UST (JHS Finals Game 1)

1 p.m. - Women's Basketball Individual Awarding Ceremony

1:30 p.m. – UST vs NU (Women Finals Game 2)

5 p.m. - Men's Basketball Individual Awarding Ceremony

5:30 p.m. – UP vs DLSU (Men Finals Game 2)

UNIVERSITY of the Philippines hopes to complete what it failed to do in the two previous UAAP men's basketball Finals, closing out the series and winning it all.

Coach Goldwin Monteverde knows that the Fighting Maroons have moved on with the previous episodes of heartaches as they endured.

After winning the Season 84 (2022) championship that ended a 36-year drought, UP lost the title to Ateneo in a rematch six months later and bowed to De La Salle last year, as it failed to sustain its series-opening victories.

"We never naman dwell on the past no? So right now, as I said, part of the process of winning a championship is you know, winning Game 1. So we got Game 1 right now so we’re gonna prepare for Game 2," Monteverde said.

"So we’re gonna do our best, lahat ng makakaya namin to get it, and when that game day comes, whatever comes our way, we’re gonna face the challenge there," he added.

The Fighting Maroons are bracing for a big Green Archers fightback and whatever in-game adjustments the defending champions will throw in Game 2 at 5:30 p.m. today (Wednesday) at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Behind one-and-done center Quentin Millora-Brown and graduating guard JD Cagulangan, UP used a strong third quarter and held De La Salle's reigning MVP Kevin Quiambao to a single point in the second half to pull off a 73-65 victory last Sunday.

It was the Fighting Maroons' fourth consecutive Game 1 Finals win.

Coach Topex Robinson hopes that the Green Archers would rediscover their system that installed the Taft-based squad as the No. 1 team in the eliminations.

"At this point, it's just a matter of us gaining a learning from this experience. The only thing that I told the team, there's a reason why this is a series you don't win a championship by winning one game, you need two games," Robinson said.

"So we still have a chance we’ve been in this situation before, we just have to keep on being positive and try to learn from this experience. Again that's a tough team we played, we just have to slug it out in the end," he added.

The Fighting Maroons are 0-4 all-time in Game 2s in the Final Four era.

UP hopes to become the first team since the 16-0 Ateneo squad in Season 82 (2019) to register a two-game Finals sweep.

A victory by the Green Archers will send the series to a Game 3 on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Meanwhile, National University hopes to complete a perfect 16-0 season and reclaim the women's throne against holders University of Santo Tomas at 1 p.m.

The Lady Bulldogs barely protected their unbeaten record, rallying from a 14-point second-half deficit to beat the Tigresses, 72-71.

As NU guns for its eighth title in nine seasons, coach Aris Dimaunahan is determined to accomplish its redemption tour.

"Talk about mindset, again our mantra since Day 1 is to and was to improve on the daily. We always want to get better than the day before, and that will still be our mantra, that will still be our mindset to get better from the next days before our next game so that we could be more ready come Game 2 and hopefully, we will play a lot better in Game 2 so that we could be nearing dun sa gusto naming destination this year," Dimaunahan said.

Coach Haydee Ong remains upbeat that UST will fight and live another day as her troops put up a gallant stand in the opener.

"Nothing to be ashamed of. The girls did very well and I'm so proud of them. Hopefully, manalo kami. Yung mga miscues namin sa defense namin, yun yung mga tatargetin namin for two more days. Kung ano yung mga kailangan namin gawin. And we'll be back stronger," Ong said.

Expect an intense showdown between the Lady Bulldogs' Camille Clarin and the Tigresses' Kent Pastrana, who battled tooth and nail this past Sunday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

In the junior high school division, University of the East and UST will clash in the division’s Finals opener to open the three-game championship slate at 11 a.m.

The well-rested Junior Warriors gained an early passage to the Finals after dethroning inaugural champions NUNS Bullpups, while the Tiger Cubs had to defeat Season 86 silver medalists FEU-D Baby Tamaraws twice to clinch the last Finals ticket.

For head coach Andrew Estrella, they are not only focused on their division’s glory, as UE looks to end a 39-year UAAP basketball title drought across all divisions.

“Right now, we are just thinking about the present. Siyempre, nandiyan yung other stuff na matagal na walang basketball championship and UE. That’s our motivation. We are also motivated to win a championship for Boss Frank, Boss Jacob and Boss Jared (Lao), especially, alam natin yung nangyari sa Benilde sa NCAA,” Estrella said.

UST head coach Noli Mejos, on the other hand, believes that it will take more than the Tiger Cubs star trio of Jhon Canapi, Dustin Bathan, and Andwele Cabanero to finally take down UE, citing the importance of team chemistry and doubled hard work in training.

While the Tiger Cubs lost both elimination matches to the Junior Warriors, UST came close to taking down UE with a narrow 78-80 defeat in their second-round encounter last October 30.

“Dadagdagan pa namin yung effort namin [against UE], especially on defense. Balik sa practice, viewing na naman. Kung nagawa namin dati na matalo sa kanila by two points, kulang yung effort namin at players noon, ngayon dadagdagan namin para manalo kami,” Mejos said.

All games are available for free for local and international fans via the Pilipinas Live app. The games will be also broadcast live on free-to-air TV via One Sports (Ch. 6) and in high definition on the UAAP Varsity Channel (Ch. 263 on Cignal TV).