CEBU, Philippines - All roads lead to the Cebu Coliseum today as the historic Cebu leg of the Philippine Collegiate Champions League Elite Eight Series gets underway featuring five of the finest collegiate teams from Manila against the top three ballclubs in Cebu.
In the explosive opener scheduled at 5:15 p.m., the newly-crowned Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) champions Southwestern University Cobras will square off against the De la Salle University Green Archers. Afterwhich, it's the turn of CESAFI runner-up University of San Carlos Warriors to take on the floor opposite UAAP Season 77 losing finalist Far Eastern University Tamaraws at 7 p.m.
The Cobras beat the Green Archers in last year's PCCL Final Four, but eventually lost to the same rivals in the championship.
What makes the Cobras-Green Archers showdown more interesting is that Ben Mbala, the versatile Cameroonian who powered Southwestern U to the CESAFI title two years ago, will be donning the La Salle jersey this time against his former team.
Also, back-to-back CESAFI MVP Mark Jayven Tallo once played with La Salle in the UAAP before going back to Cebu and land at the Cobras' den.
For the first time in recent years, the Queen City of the South is playing host to a bigtime hardcourt extravaganza wherein the top eight collegiate teams in the country are lumped into one venue, with common goal of claiming the coveted PCCL crown.
On Saturday, reigning UAAP title-holder National University Bulldogs will see action against the University of the Visayas Green Lancers, the winningest squad in the local cagedom, under new coach Gary Cortes, himself a champion Lancer.
In addition to that, five-peat NCAA champions San Beda Red Lions will showcase their skills against the USC Warriors on the same day.
The fifth contender from Manila, NCAA runner-up Arellano University Chiefs, will strut their wares on Sunday against the UV Lancers. In the last playdate of the five-game joust set on Monday, Arellano will test the mettle of SWU.
PCCL chairman Rey Gamboa will supervise the conduct of the tournament along former national team coach Joe Lipa.
Tickets are pegged at P40 for the general admision, P80 for the upperbox, P150 for the lowerbox and P200 for the stage. (FREEMAN)