MANILA—Jose Rizal U and Mapua dispute a playoff berth for the second championship slot Wednesday at the start of the stepladder semifinals of the 86th NCAA basketball tournament at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
The Heavy Bombers are favored in the 4 p.m. duel with the Cardinals, whom they defeated twice in the elimination round.
But those convincing wins were not enough to calm Bombers coach Vergel Meneses’ nerves.
“We just can’t take them lightly, especially now that the stakes are higher,” said Meneses, in his first year as coach of the Bombers.
The survivor of the JRU-Mapua duel will meet second seed San Sebastian on Friday for the right to face San Beda in the finals.
San Beda already booked a place in the Finals after fashioning out an unprecedented 16-game sweep of the eliminations. The Lions also hold a thrice-to-beat advantage, equivalent to an outright 1-0 lead in the best-of-five finals.
Because of San Beda’s feat, the twice-to-beat advantage of San Sebastian was also negated as the stepladder format was applied.
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