UE eyes semis slot against UP

Games on Wednesday
(Filoil EcoOil Centre)
8 a.m. – UPIS vs UE (JHS)
10 a.m. – FEU-D vs NUNS (JHS)
12 noon – DLSZ vs Ateneo (JHS)
2 p.m. – UST vs AdU (JHS)
5:30 p.m. – UP vs UE (Men)

UNIVERSITY of the East (UE) shoots for the last semifinal spot against University of the Philippines (UP) in the penultimate playdate of the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball on Wednesday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

Game time is at 5:30 p.m. with the Warriors eyeing to snap a 15-year drought and wanting no complications for the last Final Four ticket with the Adamson Soaring Falcons on the lookout from fifth spot.

The skidding UE side with four straight losses sports a 6-7 slate and could reach the magic number of seven wins with a victory against UP (10-3), already in the Final Four and assured of a twice-to-beat edge as the No. 2 seed.

A win by the Warriors would eliminate the Falcons (5-8) from contention regardless of the result of their final match on Saturday against also-ran Ateneo (4-9) and push them to the Final Four for the first time since the era of school legend Paul Lee in 2009.

Otherwise, UE could be in a playoff with Adamson to complete the picture and UP stands in the way not to spoil anything but to prime up for a Final Four showdown against the vastly-improved Santo Tomas.

Santo Tomas over the weekend dodged any complications by finishing with a 7-7 slate after a 75-49 win over Adamson as UE absorbed a costly defeat to Ateneo de Manila University, 71-67, to miss out on an outright ticket.

Good thing for the Warriors of coach Jack Santiago, they will welcome back prized reinforcement Precious Momowei from a one-game suspension after two unsportsmanslike fouls and an ejection in a 76-67 loss against Santo Tomas. — John Bryan Ulanday