Archers tangle with Cobras as Elite 8 starts

La Salle brings back to Cebu a familiar face as the Green Archers tangle with Southwestern University at the start of the Elite Eight round of the 2014 National Collegiate Championship today at Cebu City Coliseum.

Ben Mbala battles his former team, the SWU Cobras, whom he led to the Cebu Schools Athletic Federation Inc. (Cesafi) championship in 2012 before joining the Archers.

“I’m vey happy with his attitude,” La Salle coach Juno Sauler said of Mbala, the 6-foot-7 Cameroonian who has served a two-year residency with the Archers.

“He’s willing to learn, he asks a lot of questions and asks a lot of help from his teammates. Hopefully he continues to grow as a player and fit in with what we’re trying to do.”

The Archers and the Cobras, the protagonists in last year’s Finals, collide in the first game at 5:15 p.m.

Far Eastern University, the UAAP runner-up this season, takes on University of San Carlos at 7 p.m.

The eight teams, divided into two groups, battle the contenders from the opposing side before the two squads with the best record clash in a best-of-three championship series.

While all the other teams are coming off a long layoff, the Archers just ruled the Luzon-Metro Manila regionals to clinch the last spot in the Elite Eight.

“[The long break] can either work for them or against them,” Sauler said.