UAAP, NCAA set ‘Final Showdown’

It’s a showdown the basketball world has long been waiting for. And it’s for a cause.

ABS-CBN, through Studio 23, launched yesterday the first ever UAAP-NCAA Benefit Games dubbed as "The Final Showdown for Bantay Bata 163" which unfolds Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum.

The best of the best from top collegiate leagues UAAP and NCAA will test each other’s mettle in this 18-day event being held for the benefit of Bantay Bata 163 Children’s Village, a haven for abused kids, through a children’s trust.

Newly-crowned UAAP champion Ateneo clashes with NCAA runner-up St. Benilde at 2 p.m. while Aric del Rosario’s Santo Tomas takes on Jimmy Mariano’s Philippine Christian University at 4 p.m. in Saturday’s start of a single-round UAAP-NCAA crossover eliminations.

Dethroned champion La Salle tackles NCAA titlist San Sebastian at 4 p.m and University of the East faces Jose Rizal at 2 p.m. the next day also at the Big Dome to cap the exciting weekend.

"We’re really excited because in this tournament, we’ll get to know which team from the UAAP and NCAA is really the best," said ABS-CBN’s project director Peter Musngi in a press conference at the ELJ Center in Quezon City.

"But this is only half of it because the essence of this tournament is helping the abused children under Bantay Bata 163," he added.

Dulce Festin-Baybay, head of Bantay Bata 163’s public relations department, was also present in the launching rites to thank ABS-CBN and the UAAP and NCAA for their help.

"The Children’s Village is very honored to welcome you, the basketball world, in their lives," said Festin-Baybay.

Musngi said Philippine Basketball League chairman Dioceldo Sy of Blu Detergents has pledged his support to the event, saying that players who have teams participating in the PBL-CBL duel meet in Cebu will be allowed to play.

UAAP teams play all their NCAA counterparts in a single-round robin format with the top two squads from each league playing each other in another single-round robin format for the right to play for the title in a best-of-three series.

There will also be an All-Star Finale featuring the top players from the UAAP and NCAA set on Oct. 30 at the Araneta Coliseum.