‘SIX-PEAT-SEEKING” San Beda gets a taste of some serious competition in the always dangerous De La Salle in the main game of the ninth Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup, which kicks off on Saturday at the San Juan Arena.
The 4 p.m. clash will unveil a De La Salle team that was surprisingly derailed in its drive for a back-to-back University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) title, while San Beda will showcase some new faces in addition to familiar old ones.
The much-fancied De La Salle team was waylaid by Far Eastern University in the UAAP Season 77 Final Four, while San Beda made short work of Arellano University in annexing the National Collegiate Athletic Association crown.
While brothers Anthony and David Semerad, Kyle Pascual and Rome de la Rosa have moved on to the professional ranks, the veteran team under new head coach Jamike Jarin will count on one of the best backcourt tandems in the country in Ryusei Koga and Baser Amer.
They will have old reliables Ola Adeogun, who is playing in his final season in red and white. They have veteran forward and energizer Arthur de la Cruz Jr. and Jaypee Mendoza to count on.
Jarin has also brought to the fold Andre Paras, who played one season for the University of the Philippines in the UAAP.
De La Salle is a veteran-laden team, led by Jeron Teng, Arnold Van Opstal, Thomas Torres and Jason Perkins, who will guide newbies Jollo Go and Andrei Caracut, the former Red Cubs star who moved to Taft.
The Green Archers have their own blue-chip transferee in Joshua Torralba, who was impressive with the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals two seasons ago.
UAAP juniors champion Ateneo collides with NCAA titlist San Bed at 12 noon in a high-school showdown also on Saturday. Seniors action will feature University of the East against University of Santo Tomas at 2 p.m. and Jose Rizal University against FEU at 6 p.m.