NU, Letran look to inch closer to Filoil quarters

MANILA, Philippines – The National University Bulldogs, still smarting from their 61-58 loss to Centro Escolar University last Wednesday, look to get back on the winning track and inch closer to a quarterfinals berth when they take on Emilio Aguinaldo College in the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup at the San Juan Arena.

The Bulldogs, at 3-1 in Group C of the pre-season tournament, are favorites over the 2-2 EAC Generals in their 2:15 p.m. match-up.

“Bilog ang bola,” pronounced EAC coach Gerry Esplana. “Syempre, we have everything to gain from playing them hard and going for a win. It will give our team confidence not only in this tournament but also in the NCAA.”

In other seniors action, Letran hopes to catch up with Lyceum of the Philippines University in the Group B standings when they open the Filoil quadruple header at 10:45 a.m. The LPU Pirates are at 3-2 while Letran is at 2-2 after surviving gritty stand by St. Clare College in their last outing, 83-79.

Over in Cebu in the first ever Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup road games, UAAP champion La Salle and Filoil defending champion UE make their southern debuts against fancied homesides at the Mandaue City Sports Complex.

UE, which nailed a huge win over JRU last Monday, May 19 for a 1-2 record, will take on the 1-3 University of San Carlos which was eliminated by Southwestern University last Thursday. The Red Warriors will need a win against the USC Warriors if they want to advance in the tournament.

The La Salle Green Archers battle with the dangerous Southwestern University Cobras in the main game at 7pm. SWU currently holds a 3-0 record in Group A while La Salle is at 1-1. The two squads were protagonists in last year’s Philippine Collegiate Championship that the Green Archers won 2-1.

But the Cobras are raring to show that they are not last year’s team that they felt was a pushover. With rookies Jasper Parker and Anton Pardo adding much needed scoring to back up old reliables Mark Anthony Tallo, Landry Sanjo, and Adam Mohammed, SWU has been a tough foe. The Cobras won their two matches in Manila dealing the erstwhile undefeated squads of Jose Rizal University and the University of Perpetual Help.