CEU, Olivarez begin title duel

MANILA, Philippines – Centro Escolar University and Olivarez College slug it out today in Game One of the inaugural Universities and Colleges Basketball League (UCBL) Finals with the Scorpions hoping to make full use of their edge in manpower and experience.

But the Sea Lions have the momentum, not to mention the crowd support, guaranteeing a fierce battle not only for the head-start but all through their best-of-three series at the Olivarez Sports Center in Sucat, Parañaque.

Gametime is at 12 noon.

While many believe the CEU Scorpions have the decisive advantage, coach Yong Garcia is not taking the Sea Lions lightly.

The Scorpions mauled the Sea Lions twice in the elims, but Garcia insists they will be facing a different rival in the finals.

“The elimination round is far different from the finals and they showed great character during their semis series with TIP,” said Garcia. “We’ll have to start from scratch since we have already been scouted from the elims to the semis.”

Knowing how formidable CEU is, Olivarez College coach Michael Saguiguit remains hopeful of his ward’s chances.

“We were overwhelmed with our little achievement, I just hope we can sustain it and give CEU a good fight,” said Saguiguit. “Everybody knows that we are the smallest team in the league. So, we will try to put up a good defense.”

The third-seeded Sea Lions, according to Garcia, are coming off a reversal over the No. 2 TIP Engineers, whom they beat twice to gain a crack at the crown.

“The Sea Lions are obviously reinvigorated by their win over the TIP Engineers, so just imagine their confidence going to the finals,” said Garcia, whose squad needed only to beat the Colegio de San Lorenzo once to make it to the finals.

The other reason Garcia is wary of the Sea Lions is the crowd support.

“The crowd is their ‘sixth man’ so we’ll have to play as hard as we can to overcome that,” added Garcia, who is hoping to get another huge numbers from Rod Ebondo.

Aside from the 6-foot-6 Ebondo, Garcia is looking forward to getting significant number from a bevy of role players, including Samboy de Leon, Orlan Wamar and John Karlo Casiño.