TWICE-TO-BEAT HOLDERS NU, UP EYE SPOTS IN UAAP FINALS

MANILA, Philippines — The UAAP Season 88 men's basketball Final Four unfurls at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.

De La Salle University entered the semifinals as the only team with winning momentum, with the other three semifinalists National University, University of the Philippines, and University of Santo Tomas losing their respective final games in the elimination round.

Claiming the last semis berth as fourth seed after dispatching Ateneo de Manila last Wednesday, 78-72, La Salle battles the top seed and twice-to-beat NU at 1:30 p.m.

The second seed and also twice-to-beat and defending champ UP takes on UST at 4:30 p.m.

Other than facing a twice-to-win disadvantage, the Topex Robinson-coached Archers also yielded to the Jeff Napa-coached Bulldogs in the eliminations twice.

Robinson remains defiant, saying that his team will keep fighting.

"They're the only team that beat us twice in the regular season. They're gonna come in confident. They've really been a solid team. They've matured. They have a great leader in Jake Figueroa," said Robinson, whose team ended the eliminations with back-to-back wins.

"We're just gonna keep battling and be guided. We're just happy to be here. Everybody was counting us out because we lost a lot of players, preparing for what's gonna be in front of us so we're just going to enjoy the moment as well."

In the women's division, the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the defending champs NU Lady Bulldogs collide in the final phase of the stepladder semifinals at 10:30 a.m.

Third seed Ateneo ousted fourth seed Adamson in the first phase, 66-56, last Sunday to set up another knockout match this time against NU.

The winner between the Eagles and the Bulldogs face the unbeaten and top seed UST Growling Tigresses in a best-of-3 Finals series.

2025-12-02T23:44:43Z