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By Frank Calapre Correspondent
DEFENDING champion San Beda
College and Letran College shoot for championship berths Wednesday
in the semifinals of the 83rd National Collegiate Athletic
Association basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum.
The San Beda Red Lions take on
the Mapua Cardinals at 4 p.m. right after the match between the
Letran Knights against the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers at 2
p.m.
Both San Beda and Letran enjoy
twice-to-beat advantages after finishing first and second
respectively in the double-round eliminations.
The Red Lions topped the elims
with 11 wins and 1 loss followed by the Knights (9-3).The Heavy
Bombers placed third with an 8-4 record while the Cardinals were
fourth with six wins against six losses.
San Beda, owner of 13 titles, is
a heavy favorite after beating Mapua twice–87-77 on July 4 and
89-75 last July 27—this season.
“We made a lot of preparations
for this game. We avoided talking about the finals because we have
to hurdle first Mapua in the semis then afterwards we can talk about
the championship,” said San Beda assistant coach J. V. Sison, who
spoke on behalf of head coach Frankie Lim.
“We spent one week in Tagaytay
for our team building and the outcome is good,” added Sison.
Coach Leo Isaac, on the other
hand, will bank on Fil-Canadian Kelvin dela Pena and Sean Co when
the Cardinals try to stop the Red Lions from advancing into the next
round.
It will be the first semifinal
appearances for both Lim and Isaac, who were past MVP awardees
during their college years. Lim won in 1983 and Isaac in 1981.
JRU coach Ariel Vanguardia,
meanwhile, is optimistic on their chances against Letran.
“Letran is a very experienced
team. But we have a strong chance. What I can say is that if we can
shoot well then we will win the game,” said Vanguardia.
“I think, the team which can
execute well the game plan will prevail. But the biggest stumbling
block is Letran’s twice-to-beat advantage,” added Vangurdia,
whose team made it to the next round for the first time since 2003.
During the eliminations, the
Heavy Bombers won 79-75 in the first round while the Knights
prevailed in the second round, 74-71.
In the juniors division, reigning
champion San Sebastian battles Jose Rizal at 12 noon while
multi-titled San Beda meet Letran at 10 a.m.
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