MANILA, Philippines — Four eliminated teams hope to wrap up their campaigns with a victory in the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup Wednesday.
Mapua guns for back-to-back wins against St. Clare in Group B at 2:15 p.m., while Emilio Aguinaldo College aims for a third triumph versus University of the Philippines in Group C at 4 p.m. at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
The EAC Generals (2-3) missed a chance to earn a wild-card berth after falling short to National University, 52-60, last week.
Only the top two teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals, but two teams with the next best records will earn wild-card slots.
Group A’s Southwestern University (5-1), Group B’s Far Eastern U (5-0) and San Beda (5-0) and Group C’s Centro Escolar University (6-0) already gained quarterfinal slots.
Meanwhile, SWU center Landry Sanjo bagged the Purefoods Best Player of the Week after posting 24.2 points and 13.2 rebounds during the tournament’s out-of-town leg in Cebu.
Sanjo also won the Gatorade Defensive Player Award and earned a spot in the week’s Best Five with La Salle’s Jason Perkins and Jeron Teng, NU’s Gelo Alolino and CEU’s Samboy De Leon.
The Cardinals, tied with the Saints at 1-4, try to follow up on their 30-point rout of the Philippine Under-18 Team, 100-70, where Jesse Saitanan led five Mapua players in double figures.
The Maroons, also at 1-4, are similarly coming off a loss to the Bulldogs, but unlike the Generals, the struggling UAAP squad absorbed a heavy beating, 76-92.