Sorry, UE Warriors tell Unigames hosts

SAYING they had to heed the call for flag and country, University of the East has apologized to organizers of the 17th Sandugo University Games in Bacolod City for the failure of the Red Warriors to show up for their men’s basketball championship match against National University last Sunday.

The basketball tournament of the weeklong games proved to be one of the most competitive in years with UE beating defending champion Ateneo and NU downing Adamson in a pair of tightly contested semifinal matches.

But UE left for Manila and Taiwan almost immediately after its clash with Ateneo, forcing organizers to strip the Warriors even of their second place finish and instantly declare the Bulldogs champions.

In a letter to Unigames president Roger Banzuela, UE executive director for marketing Dr. Jesus T. Tanchanco Sr. and Department of Physical Education director Rodrigo Roque explained that the Red Warriors had to leave because of a prior engagement as they are representing the country in the Asian University Basketball Federation (AUBF) championship in Taiwan.

The UE officials said the school had no intention of disrespecting the Unigames, NU, the other participating teams and the Bacolod basketball fans for forfeiting the championship game.

Interestingly, UE officials did not explain why they weren’t able to anticipate that the schedules of the two tournaments would overlap.

The school remains hopeful that the Unigames will understand its case.

“We hope that the Warriors would be given the honor and privilege of participating in future Unigames basketball tournaments for we shall always remain ardent aficionados and disciples of college basketball,” added Tanchanco.