Warriors gun for title repeat

MANILA, Philippines - University of the East tries to complete a back-to-back title romp in the Filoil Flying V Pre-Season MVP Cup today as it takes on fancied Far Eastern U in a one-game duel at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The Warriors humbled the three-peat NCAA champions San Beda Lions to capture last year’s crown in the league featuring the country’s top varsity teams. But the Recto-based cagers will have to do it this time against perhaps the most fancied team in the fold.

Boasting of a number of players who have been honing their talent and skills with the RP developmental pool, headed by Mark Barroca, the Tams bucked a shaky stint in the qualifier then outsteadied the Lions in the Final Four to arrange a title clash with the Warriors.

Gametime is set at 4 p.m. after the 2 p.m. duel of San Beda and San Sebastian for third place honors.

UE and FEU reached the final by fashioning out similar hard-earned victories over their respective semis rivals last Friday. The Warriors overcame the absence of six players to beat the Stags, 90-84, while the Tamaraws thwarted the Red Lions, 64-58.

Meanwhile, the organizing Filoil Flying V Sports said the arena will be open free to the public.

“We have decided to open the gates to the public so that basketball fans can watch this very exciting finals for free. All they need to do is go there early at the Filoil Flying V Arena, sit, relax and enjoy the games,” said Filoil Flying V Sports chair Mandy Ochoa.

UE coach Lawrence Chongson is expected to lean on veterans Paul Lee, Elmer Espiritu, James Martinez and Narciso Llagas as they try to stop the Barroca-led squad that won only three of its seven games in the elims but upended Jose Rizal U in the quarters and set up a duel with San Beda.

The Warriors, on the other hand, finished the elims with an impressive 6-1 card then downed the Mapua Cardinals, 85-78, in the quarters before beating the Stags in the semis, 90-84.

The Warriors actually trounced the Barroca-less Tams, 63-53, in their lone face-off in the elims.

But with Barroca back, the Tams are tipped to foil the Warriors on their second straight title bid.

The tournament is backed by Adidas,Total Phils., Inc., SMART Sports, CDO, Pioneer Insurance, The Philippine STAR, Inquirer, Manila Standard Today, Business Mirror, 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, Molten (the official ball) Insular, Channel V and Makisig Channel, (official TV coveror).