Altas, Chiefs loom as top contenders in NCAA Season 89

MANILA, Philippines - With solid rosters and impressive pre-season stints, Arellano U and Perpetual Help loom as two of the early contenders in the 89th NCAA basketball tournament which kicks off Saturday at the MOA Arena in Pasay City.

The Chiefs, coached by multi-titled coach Koy Banal, have exceeded expectations by beating title favorite the San Beda Lions and finishing ahead of the reigning three-peat champions after the group stage of the recent Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup.

No less than San Beda coach Boyet Fernandez took notice of Legarda-based cagers’ performance.

“I have a lot of respect for coach Koy for making a contender out of Arellano right now,” said Fernandez referring to Banal, who won championships in the UAAP for Far Eastern U and later in the NCAA for San Beda.

“For them to beat us and even finishing ahead of us after the elims, that is something to watch out for and think about,” he added.

What made it impressive was that Arellano did it without foreign reinforcements.

“It’s all about keeping the faith, believing we could compete and trusting we could do anything if we play as a team,” said Banal.

Like Arellano U, Perpetual is the team to watch out for in the upcoming season with the Altas boasting of two Nigerians in Femi Babayemi and Nosa Omorogbe and four talented recruits in Juneric Baloria and Gerald Dizon from Pampanga and 6-4 Kervin Lucente and 6-3 Nestor Bantayan Jr. from Adamson.

“It makes me happy when other coaches think of us as favorites,” said Perpetual Help coach Aric del Rosario, who steered UST to a four-peat feat in the UAAP in the mid-90s, in Filipino.

“But it’s all words and mean nothing to us until we start winning and living up to their expectations,” he added, whose wards finished second in the Fr. Martin Summer Cup behind eventual winner National U. 

The 6-7 Babayemi, who missed most of the pre-season due to back problems, is expected to be back in top shape in time for the tournament, while Earl Scottie Thompson, also hounded by back spasms, has practiced for the team for a week now and should be healthy in Perpetual’s opening game.

“Fortunately for us, our injured players are starting to get healthy again,” said del Rosario.

The Chiefs are also expecting their Fil-Canadian, Adam Jacob Serjue, by middle of July after injuring an MCL (medial collateral ligament) last January.