IN the only significant movement in the final day of elimination round play of the Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup today, San Beda University can steal the second seed of Group A from De La Salle.
The Red Lions crushed Mapua, 95-60, on June 12 to hike their record to 6-2 won-lost. A win against Emilio Aguinaldo College (0-8) in the 1:45 p.m. game will tie them with idle La Salle at 7-2.
The Green Archers absorbed their second loss, 81-75, to archrival Ateneo, also on Independence Day. A San Beda win will drop De La Salle to third place.
In other matches at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan, teams try to improve their place in the standings, and in the case of the College of Saint Benilde and Adamson University, finish strong before the quarterfinals.
The Blazers battle the San Sebastian College Recoletos Golden Stags at 3:30 p.m.
The Blazers are the surprise team of the tournament with a 6-1 record to top Group B. They will battle the Stags (4-3), who, even if they upset Benilde, will have no chance to catch Letran (5-3), as they lost to the Knights in the elimination round.
The win-over-the-other rule will break ties.
For the Falcons (5-2), they will have their hands full against a resurgent Lyceum of the Philippines University that fielded a near complete team in its 89-68 massacre of Far Eastern University on June 10 to go to 3-4.
The Pirates could activate African center Harry Nzeusseu for the match. Nzeusseu and most of their regular rotation have skipped the tourney to rest after a grueling D-League campaign that saw them bag the Aspirants’ Cup crown.
The talented Falcons have been boosted by key acquisitions in Jerome Lastimosa, CJ Catapusan, Egie Boy Mojica, Jed Colonia and Vince Magbuhos to replace Nicko Paranada, Kurt Lojera and Tyrus Hill, who have all left for various reasons.
Adamson University and Lyceum close out the elimination round games at 5:15 p.m.
Arellano University and University of Santo Tomas clash at 12 noon in a battle of ousted teams.
The quarterfinals are set on June 28, while the semifinals are slated on June 29. The final will be played on June 30.