The Malacañang Kamao hope to clinch the 5th UNTV Cup title in style when it meet the Philippine National Police (PNP) Responders in Game 2 of their best-of-three title series today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Kamao of Presidential Management Staff head Bong Go took the series opener with a thrilling 82-81 win and coach Louie Gonzalez believes the hard win will give them the extra motivation to complete a two-game sweep of the championship.
If the Kamao stay hot in their 8 p.m. game, they will clinch their first-ever title in the tournament designed by UNTV president and CEO Daniel Razon for public servants.
Led by former University of Santo Tomas player Christian Luanzon and Eric dela Cuesta, the Kamao will also become the first No. 4 seed team to rule the event after stunning top seed Bureau of Customs in the semis.
Officials and staff of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center are expected to boost the morale of the Kamao since the medical institution has been chosen by Malacañang as its beneficiary for the P4 million prize if it wins the title won last season by Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The charity of the runner-up gets P2 million while the third and fourth placers – Judiciary and BoC – get P1 million and P500,000 respectively.
Meantime, the beneficiaries of the 9 teams that failed to get the semis will receive P100,000 in today’s awarding ceremonies.
Luanzon is expected to be a marked man in today’s game after scoring 29 points in a torrid shootout with PNP’s Ollan Omiping in Game 1.