By Michael Angelo S. Murillo

THE semifinal round of Season 80 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) will be a normal Final Four format as the defending champions De La Salle Green Archers derailed the Ateneo Blue Eagles’ sweep bid yesterday with a 79-76 win on the final play date of the classification phase at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

With the Eagles just a victory away from sweeping the elimination round and earning a direct pass to the final, the Archers made sure such would not be consummated, digging deep and coming up big down the stretch to hand Ateneo its first defeat of the season and forcing a Final Four setup with them having a twice-to-beat advantage instead of a stepladder.

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo

THE Ateneo Blue Eagles are now one win away from a rare sweep of the elimination round in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) after winning their 13th straight game in Season 80 with a 96-82 victory over a gutsy University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons in a key game yesterday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo

FOR the 12th straight year, the San Beda Red Lions are playing in the finals of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) after besting rivals San Sebastian Stags, 76-71, in their semifinal knockout game yesterday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Forced to play in a do-or-die contest with the semifinal this season rendered a stepladder following the sweep of the elimination round of the top-seeded Lyceum Pirates, the defending champions showed they were fine with it as they led the Stags from start to finish en route to the win.

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo

APART from the Lyceum Pirates sweeping their way to a spot in the finals, the biggest news coming out of Season 93 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) of late is the resurgence of the San Sebastian Stags as they try to buck the odds and book a place in the championship.

Forced to start down low in the stepladder playoffs, the Stags have been handling themselves quite well, overcoming their first two hurdles and looking steady heading into an all-important knockout game against rivals San Beda Red Lions next week for the right to play in the best-of-three finals against Lyceum.

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo

RIVALS Letran Knights and San Sebastian Stags look to book a spot in the semifinals of Season 93 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) when they collide today for the remaining slot at the Mall of Asia Arena.

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo

FINISHED their first-round campaign in Season 80 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) with three straight losses, the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons got back on the winning track yesterday, beating the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers, 71-69, at the start of the second round of elimination play.

The epic rivalry of ADMU (@ateneodemanilau) and DLSU (@DLSUManila) reached fever pitch during the end of #UAAPSeason80 Round 1 games last weekend, as fans from each university went on a Tweeting frenzy to celebrate their teams’ performance. The atmosphere stayed positive on Twitter, despite the heated on-court battle between the top two teams of the season so far. 

As a LIVE platform, Twitter shows what’s happening in the world of #UAAPSeason80. Fans have been using the platform to root for their favorite teams or universities and find relatable information about the upcoming games. Below are interesting data related to the conversation about #UAAPSeason80 on Twitter (9 September - 9 October 2017).

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo

KALENTONG-based Jose Rizal University (JRU) Heavy Bombers try to book a spot in the Final Four of Season 93 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) when they collide today against also-rans Mapua Cardinals in the 2 p.m. curtain-raiser at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Safely perched at number three with a 10-6 record, the Vergel Meneses-coached Bombers are out to make their playoff entry official with another victory.

BIG things start from the small beginning.

Nathaniel Angelo Manarang started playing basketball in his makeshift half-court in their home’s backyard and at the covered court in their subdivision in Antipolo City along with his kid buddies.

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo

AN eventful first round of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 80 men’s basketball tournament ends this weekend with all eight competing teams seeing action.

All to be played at the Mall of Asia Arena, first-round UAAP windup games on tap carry varying significance for the combatants.