Filoil quarterfinal pits Ateneo against AdU

MANILA, Philippines - Action in the Filoil Flying V First Five Pre-Season Invitational Cup heats up today with the staging of the quarterfinal round with Ateneo battling Adamson and San Sebastian tangling with La Salle in two of the four knockout matches at The Arena in San Juan.

The Eagles, the Group A topnotcher, are fancied over the Falcons in their 4 p.m. encounter while the Archers-Stags duel at 6 p.m. could go either way.

Defending champion Far Eastern U is also slightly favored over University of the Phils. in the 11 a.m. opener while the San Beda-Jose Rizal U match at 2 p.m. is also expected to go down-to-the-wire.

With the win-or-go-home format, Ateneo, San Beda, UP, De La Salle of Group A, and San Sebastian, FEU, Jose Rizal and Adamson of Group B are all expected to bring out their best basketball in their bid to make the Final Four of this tournament presented by Mighty Bond Extreme, with major sponsors Total Phils. Corp., San Marino Corned Tuna, Accel, Filoil Gas Company, Flying V and Hanesbrands, the official outfitter.

The defending champion Tamaraws (No. 2) and the Maroons (No. 3) start hostilities when they clash at 11 a.m.

The Red Lions (No. 2) take on the Heavy Bombers (No. 3) at 2 p.m. in a battle of NCAA rivals, while the Eagles (No. 1) meet the dangerous Falcons (No.4) at 4 p.m.

The Stags (No. 1) and the Archers (No. 4) cap the long day in their 6 p.m. showdown.

The televised games starting at 2 p.m., will be shown live over Studio 23. Tickets for the games are available through TicketNet at 911-5555.

The winning teams will advance to the knockout semifinal round Friday. The winner of the FEU-UP match would go on to face the winner of the Ateneo-Adamson match, while the SBC-JRU winner meets the winner in the SSC-R-DLSU game.

The Eagles, who topped Group A with a 6-1 card, are heavily favored against the Falcons, who are seeded fourth in Group B after finishing with a 5-3 record, but Adamson coach Leo Austria said his wards will be ready for whatever Ateneo will bring to the hardcourt.

‘’It would be a tough match against Ateneo but hopefully we can put on a great fight. The boys matured a lot throughout the course of the tournament. We finish games better now compared before. We’ll be ready,’’ said Austria after their morale-boosting 71-62 victory over the Heavy Bombers last Saturday.