LA SALLE will be the underdog when it faces National University in tomorrow’s finals of the 2012 Filoil Flying V Per-Season Hanes Cup at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
The Green Achers were also the pregame underdogs when they stopped the erstwhile unbeaten San Beda Red Lions, 50-46, in their semifinal clash last Saturday.
“We’re just happy that we got this far in the tournament,” said La Salle rookie coach Gee Abanilla. “We’ll definitely try to go for it on Tuesday, even though we know that we will be facing a stronger team again.”
The Bulldogs stretched their winning streak to 10 on Saturday with an emphatic 85-68 win over the Ateneo Blue Eagles and sealed their first finals stint in the tournament presented by Bostik Philippines in cooperation with Total Philippines and major sponsors Kia Motors, TMS Ship Agencies, Inc., Vulcaseal, Bayo, BDO, Molten, Nature’s Spring and Oxycan.
Against the resurgent Archers, the Bulldogs will again rely on its solid offensive crew backstopped by Bobby Ray Parks, who torched the Eagles with 30 points.
NU coach Eric Altamirano said the scoreline did not reflect the difficulty his Bulldogs had to overcome to beat the UAAP champion Eagles.
“When you play Ateneo, it’s like climbing a mountain,” said Altamirano
The Archers are expected to match up well with the Bulldogs, with big man Norberto Torres manning the paint and prolific guards Mark Tallo, Almond Vosotros and LA Revilla alternating in quarterbacking for the team.