Ateneo, La Salle seek finals in SMC Holiday Hoop

There will be no tomorrow for the losers as finals berths are expected to be hotly contested in the San Miguel Corporation Holiday Hoop Challenge today at the La Salle Green Hills Gym in San Juan.

Ateneo is also hoping for a clash with either La Salle-A or La Salle-B for the 13-under division tiara when it battles SBPPA in the semifinal match set at 10:30 a.m.

Philippine Sports Commission chairman Eric Buhain will lead guests in the finals set tomorrow when the Most Valuable Player, Most Promising Player and Mythical Five will be honored.

Joining Buhain in the finals, which start at 3 p.m., are four-time Most Valuable Player awardees Mon Fernandez and Alvin Patrimonio, Hector Calma and Ato Agustin plus some of the members of the San Miguel All Stars.

La Salle-A, which totes a 4-0 card, meets its sister team (4-1) at 9 a.m. The Blue Eagles proudly carry a 5-0 mark going into their game against SBPPA (4-1) in the tournament supported by the resources of some of SMC’s major brands like those of Magnolia poultry and dairy products, Purefoods, Purefoods-Hormel and Monterey’s meat products as well as Cali, B-Meg, and products of Philippine Beverage Partners Inc. including Magnolia fruit juices, FunChum, and Viva! and those from San Miguel’s flour business.

Harry Up teams 1 and 2, both backed up by Manila Rep. Harry Angping, try to set a date for a 16-under division title tomorrow when they face Benedictine International School and San Beda College, respectively.

The Harry Up teams finished the eliminations with identical 4-1 slates while San Beda topped Group A with a 5-0 slate as Benedictine is also poised to sweep the eliminations. The team was playing University of the Philippines Integrated School at presstime.