MANILA – University of the Philippines (UP) gets an early chance to avenge its lone defeat so far in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men's basketball event following the release of the second round schedule.
The Fighting Maroons will square off again with the NU Bulldogs at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City following the 2 p.m. match-up between the UE Red Warriors and the FEU Tamaraws.
UP fell to NU, 75-80, on Oct. 12, which essentially shut the door on the possibility of a stepladder playoffs in favor of the traditional 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 Final Four format.
However, the Bulldogs, one of the surprising teams so far in Season 85, were stunned on Saturday night after the Tamaraws prevailed, 47-44, which denied them of finishing the first round on top of the standings due to the winner-over-the-other rule.
Instead, NU (5-2) fell to third place due to Ateneo's (5-2) tiebreaker edge, a 77-60 win on Oct. 5, finding itself battling league-leading UP (6-1) one more time to start its second round campaign.
The second round of the regular season begins this Saturday with La Salle facing University of Santo Tomas at 2 p.m. and Ateneo battling Adamson at 4 p.m. also at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After the weekend games, all the other games will be played in quadruple-headers, beginning with Matchday 9 Wednesday on Nov. 2 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
However, Matchday 10 on Nov. 5 back at "The Big Dome" will feature a 6:30 p.m. showdown between the Blue Eagles and the Green Archers, and tickets for the said game are sold separately from the three other games.
Both teams will actually have two separate-ticket games each this round with the other match against the Fighting Maroons.
UP takes on La Salle on Nov. 20 at the Mall of Asia Arena and Ateneo right at the final day of the eliminations on Nov. 26 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, both games scheduled for 6:30 p.m. tip-offs each.
The UAAP will have a break from Nov. 6-16 to give way to Gilas Pilipinas' campaign in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers fifth window and will resume play on Nov. 17.
The top four teams after the elimination round will advance to the semfinals with the top two seeds holding a twice-to-beat advantage. (PNA)
