ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Collegiate devider Thrilla at MOA: UP, La Salle clash in Game 1

Thrilla at MOA: UP, La Salle clash in Game 1

Published Dec 9, 2025 03:34 pm

At A Glance

  • One side green, the other maroon, all wanting a touch of the golden trophy at the end of the best-of-three men's basketball series that kicks off Wednesday, Dec. 10, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Jacob Cortez spearheads La Salle against UP in their UAAP Finals trilogy. (UAAP Media)
Jacob Cortez spearheads La Salle against UP in their UAAP Finals trilogy. (UAAP Media)
To settle the score, to end the debate, to erase doubts, or to make the biggest statement of all. An exclamation point.
Whatever the fans call it, the third straight UAAP Finals clash between La Salle and University of the Philippines promises to be as exciting as what it was in the first year.
One side green, the other maroon, all wanting a touch of the golden trophy at the end of the best-of-three men's basketball series that kicks off Wednesday, Dec. 10, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Following their nail-biting 82–81 escape over the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers to book their fifth straight Finals ticket, the Fighting Maroons, armed with a week-long preparation, hope to repeat against the Green Archers in their 4 p.m. duel.
After all, the State U has the confidence being the reigning champion, with its Season 87 victims being their rivals yet again.
Expected to carry the fight are Gerry Abadiano, Janjan Felicilda, and Reyland Torres, with support also coming from Harold Alarcon and Terrence Fortea.
“Focus pa rin talaga namin sa preparation, ‘yong pinaka-goal talaga namin ‘yong gusto namin kunin, yung back-to-back,” said Fortea.
“‘Yong nga may goal kami pero siguro harapin lang namin muna yung day-by-day na process papunta rin sa finals. ‘Yon nga parang stay present lang kami always, ganoon na ‘yong tinuturo samin,” Alarcon added.
Known as the “Maroon Five”, they have plenty of added weapons in Noy Remogat, Gani Stevens, Francis Nnoruka, and Sean Alter.
La Salle, winner of the Season 86 duel, has the momentum after eliminating National University in the semis.
Jacob Cortez, who wants to win it all to honor his father Mike, powered the Green Archers to their third straight finals appearance, thanks to his clutch showing and career-high scoring of 29 points against the Jake Figueroa-led Bulldogs.
“Well, it will never, ever, ever be any personal stuff with UP or whatsoever. But we just want to enjoy the journey together. We want to make sure that every game that we're going to play, which is Mike's final year,” said La Salle mentor Topex Robinson. “But it's going to be exciting. We're excited to face them again. They really bring out the best in us."
“I’m just thrilled to play in my first Finals with La Salle, hopefully we can deliver there and reclaim the crown,” said Cortez as he banners the Archers with Mike Phillips, Earl Abadam, CJ Macalalag, Vhoris Marasigan, Kean Baclaan, Mason Amos, and Luis Pablo.
Meanwhile, NU Lady Bulldogs, who drew the first blood with an 84-79 Game 1 triumph, are looking to finish off the UST Golden Tigresses in Game 2 of the Finals series.
NUNS, in the 16U, also goes for the kill against Far Eastern University-Diliman.

Related Tags

UP Fighting Maroons La Salle Green Archers UAAP Season 88
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.