Six teams dispute Filoil semis berths

MANILA, Philippines - With defending champion Univ. of the East clinching the first semis berth, six teams fight it out for the remaining three slots in the Final Four as the quarterfinal round of the Filoil Flying V Pre-Season MVP Cup resumes today at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The Warriors, who trounced the San Beda Red Lions to win last year’s crown, leaned on Paul Lee and James Martinez’s triples in the closing minutes to beat the Mapua Cardinals, 85-78, over the weekend and clinch the first semis seat.

Adamson takes on San Sebastian at 2 p.m., Jose Rizal University collides with Far Eastern U at 4 p.m. while La Salle battles San Beda at 6 p.m.

While the Falcons and the Stags advanced to the quarters with identical 6-1 records for the top two spots in Group A, the Heavy Bombers compiled a 5-2 mark to top Group B. The Tamaraws, the Red Lions and the Green Archers made it to the quarters the hard way.

The Tams scrambled to finish their elimination campaign with a 3-4 card and emerged the No. 4 team in Group B, while the Archers and the Lions wound up with identical 4-3 marks, needing to hurdle their final elims assignments to advance in the tournament backed by Adidas, Total Phils., Inc., Smart Sports, CDO, Pioneer Insurance, The Philippine Star, Manila Standard Today, Business Mirror, Inquirer, RX 93.1, Filoil, Flying V, Astaro/Karspersky, Douwe Egberts, Brothers Burger, Shell, Gourmet Coffee, SIFE, Cecon/Surbex, Kolin/Syntax, Standard Chartered, DMCI Homes, Jaycees, V-Star, V-8, Tamayo’s Restaurant, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), Molten, the official ball, Insular, Channel V and Makisig Channel, the league’s official television coveror.

La Salle actually dropped three straight games upon its return from a three-week training in the US but bounced back with a 94-81 win over Letran.

San Beda downed Ateneo, 80-71, with the Eagles later deciding to withdraw from the tournament due to conflict of schedules of their players.

Without the Eagles, the Archers will have to get past the Red Lions to make it to the next round.

The Adamson-San Sebastian match remains a tossup although observers note the Falcons enjoy a slight edge in terms of experience.

Jose Rizal U, on the other hand, is also fancied over FEU, which is expected to bank on its vaunted defense to defuse the Bombers.