La Salle Greenhills secured the top spot and the first twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinal round with a thrilling 81-78 win over Adamson in the recent PCABL 11th Freego Cup at the Buddhacare gym in Quezon City.
Lennox Valenzuela and Joshua David starred anew with 16 and 13 points, respectively, as the Greenies streaked to their fifth straight win since dropping their opening game in the event presented by Freego Jeans.
The reigning NCAA titlist, which also drew double digit numbers from four other players, needs only to beat winless University of the East to formalize its claim of the No. 1 seed in the annual preseason tournament for high school.
Former NCAA champion Malayan University clinched the second and last bonus following a 79-73 victory over the UE Junior Warriors in the event also backed by Choi Garden, CW Home Depot, Powerhouse, and Hapee Toothpaste.
Clint Escamis, as usual, led the Red Robins with 29 points on an impressive 12-of-20 shooting from the field aside from posting five rebounds, four assists and the same number of steals.
Malayan, which is out to regain the NCAA crown, finished the elims with a 5-2 record.
Meantime, National University finished the elims tied with Adamson at 4-3 after pulling off a dramatic 69-68 win over Jose Rizal University while Far Eastern University wound up with a 3-4 card following a 74-60 drubbing of University of Perppetual Help.
