Basketball
Arch-rivals San Beda, Letran do battle; Mapua faces Arellano
AKTV file photo/Paul Ryan Tan
Fresh off its fourth win two days ago, defending champion San Beda will embark on a tough assignment against arch-rival Letran in the main game of Saturday’s NCAA Season 88 doubleheader at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
The Red Lions (4-1) will aim to grab solo leadership at 6 p.m. against the Knights, who are coming off a 66-60 victory over Intramuros neighbor Mapua last week.
San Beda is now a force to reckon with, following the debut of Nigerian center Ola Adeogun who had nine points, 14 rebounds and four blocks in his season debut last Thursday.
The Knights will need to find an antidote for the Red Lions slotman, with lanky center Raymund Almazan not expected to suit up after not attending practices for the past two weeks.
In the opening game, the Mapua Cardinals will try to halt their two-game losing skid when they take on the Arellano Chiefs at 4 p.m.
Mapua, who already played their full lineup last Monday with Gab Banal, Joseph Eriobu, Jessie Saitanan and Mark Braña, bowed to Letran in a closely-fought game.
The Chiefs are coming off a morale-boosting 83-52 win over Lyceum last week led by another explosive game from Filipino-Canadian James Forrester.
Arellano University is gunning for their third straight win after a dismal 0-3 start while Mapua hopes to barge back into the winning track.
