Epic duel looms for archrivals

MANILA, Philippines - The storied rivalry between the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles and the De La Salle Green Archers explodes again as the two nemeses take the court for the first time in the UAAP Season 73 men’s basketball wars today.

Both with 2-1 win-loss slates, the Eagles and the Archers lock horns at 4 p.m. before another expected full house at the Araneta Coliseum, battling for solo second behind unbeaten leader Far Eastern U (3-0).

The cagers from Katipunan swept their two meetings in Season 72, a 76-72 overtime squeaker and an 81-65 mangling in the eliminations, en route to winning back-to-back titles.

But in their first meeting this year at the FilOil Flying V Pre-season Invitational Cup, the team of coach Dindo Pumaren showed they won’t be pushovers, eking out a 77-74 triumph over AdMU.

“La Salle versus Ateneo, that’s always tough,” said Ateneo mentor Norman Black.

“It’s gonna be a tough game for us, mainly because of the crowd, the intensity of the game itself and the fact that the players are all fired up. It doesn’t really matter what the records say, we are expecting a tough fight,” he added.

Pumaren said it’s imperative for his wards to be relentless, especially in their pressure defense against the more seasoned and offensively explosive Eagles.

“We should play good defense, be aggressive and show our ‘A’ game especially against a very tough team and a champion team,” Pumaren said.

The three-peat-seeking Blue Eagles are currently on a two-game roll since dropping their opening game to the Tams but Black believes his boys are far from gaining playoff form yet.

“We’re still a work in progress at this point. You can see that I keep changing my lineup, trying to figure out which one’s gonna work and who’s gonna step up,” he said.

The Green Archers are also coming off a victory in their last outing, demolishing last season’s runner-up University of the East, 82-63.

Serving as the curtain-raiser for the highly anticipated Ateneo-La Salle showdown are the struggling UE Red Warriors (0-3) and the National U Bulldogs (1-2), who answer the buzzer at 12 noon.

Like last year, the UAAP has set the first game two hours earlier to allow the flock of blue and green to fill in the Big Dome and witness yet another storied confrontation between the bitter rivals in college basketball.