By Jerome Lagunzad
Game Today
(The Arena, San Juan City)
4 p.m. – NU vs UST
(Stepladder semis, Bullpups with twice-to-beat bonus)
National University aims to make a quick passage to the finals while University of Santo Tomas hopes to sustain its late resurgence as they square off today in the UAAP juniors basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.
Tip off is at 4 p.m., with the second-ranked Bullpups favored to re-assert their mastery of the fourth-seeded Tiger Cubs who have been thriving with their backs against the wall.
UST, already down for the count with its erratic form in the second round of eliminations, has survived its last three do-or-die matches, including an 81-80 overtime over dethroned champion Far Eastern University over the weekend.
But the Tiger Cubs will need to do more if they want to neutralize the twice-to-beat advantage being enjoyed by the Bullpups in the stepladder semifinals and force another knockout duel for the right to face the top-ranked Ateneo Blue Eaglets in the best-of-three finals.
NU, however, remains as the odds-on favorite since the Bullpups handled the Tiger Cubs with ease in their previous two meetings earlier and will be coming in with fresher legs following a nine-day respite.
Amid reports of his possible transfer to University of the East, NU coach Goldwyn Monteverde is keeping his focus on the task at hand, confident that this pack of Bullpups is capable of reaching the Promised Land for the first time since 2016.