Foreign teams in AUBC meet

Two foreign teams will spice up the third staging of the Spring Cooking Oil-Asian University Basketball Championship (AUBC) which gets going today at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Yon Sei University of Korea and National University of Taipei battle collegiate foes in the opening matches of this five-day cagefest organized by the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP).

The Koreans clash with University of Santo Tomas at 2 p.m. while the Taiwanese take on Ambrosio Padilla Cup titlist San Sebastian College at 3:30 p.m.

National Intercollegiate winner and AUBC defending champion St. Francis of Assisi meets at 5 p.m. the RP Youth-Burlington squad, which is mentored by Johny Tam.

PSC chairman Eric Buhain will make the ceremonial toss. He will be assisted by Spring Cooking Oil owner and multi-titled national shooter Tac Padilla, PSC commissioners Butch Ramirez and Cynthia Carrion, together with BAP president Tiny Literal and chairman Rep. Antonio Abaya.

Also supporting the tournament are the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, Burlington, Absolute Distilled Water, Healthy Options and YKL Color Films.

"The idea here is to develop our collegiate players and national youth team by having them play the best college teams of the region," said Literal.

The Koreans and the Taiwanese will test the mettle of the UST Tigers and the SSC Stags before they go on separate campaigns in the UAAP and the NCAA. On the other hand, the Tigers, coached by Aric del Rosario, are out to recover from their fifth place in their last collegiate sortie.

The Koreans, whose stint in the AUBC is made possible by Korean Basketball Association secretary general Shin Dong Pa, are considered as the top collegiate cage squad back in Seoul.