Final Four: Tigers, Warriors face off; Lions vs Bulldogs

MANILA, Philippines - Defending champion National U collide with NCAA titlist San Beda in a duel of title favorites while University of Santo Tomas and University of the East face off in the other Final Four clash in the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup at The Arena in San Juan today.

The Bulldogs barely kept their title-retention bid going by scrambling with a 69-67 victory over the Letran Knights, who took over the spot of the Ateneo Eagles, who decided to withdraw last weekend due a spate of injuries to their key players.

The Red Lions likewise survived a big scare from the La Salle Archers, hacking out a 66-63 win in the quarterfinals last Wednesday, making their 4 p.m. showdown a match to watch.

Equally interesting is the 2 p.m. encounter between the Tigers and the Warriors with the former coming off an 83-73 romp over the Arellano Chiefs and the latter turning back the Adamson Falcons, 66-58, last Monday.

Winners will dispute the crown on Wednesday.

NU, led by Cameroonian Emmanuel Mbe and gunner Gelo Alolino, hopes to come out strong and in full force after being slowed down by injuries majority of the tournament.

“It’s nice that we’re finally playing with a full roster unlike before when we were forced to play without some of our key players,” said NU coach Eric Altamirano.

NU’s two Cameroonians, Mbe and Alfred Aroga, will be pitted against San Beda’s Nigerian big man Ola Adeogun in a clash of the giants.

But focus will still be on Bobby Ray Parks Jr., the reigning back-to-back UAAP MVP who is expected to be pitted against San Beda’s Fil-Aussie twins of Anthony and David Semerad.