UP, Ateneo settle UAAP Season 85 tonight

One last push.

Defending champion University of the Philippines and Ateneo de Manila University battle for all the marbles in Game 3 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 85 men's basketball tournament finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum today.

Expect nothing but intense action and drama when the two teams collide at 6:00 p.m. in the decider of the best-of-three series that has gone the full distance for the second straight time since the Fighting Maroons knocked the crown off the Blue Eagles' head seven months ago.

However, unlike last season, much of the pressure is now on UP's side as it not only will try to keep the title from transferring to its Katipunan neighbor's nest but it faces Ateneo without its Game 1 hero Zav Lucero due to a knee injury.

The outgoing forward ended his collegiate career with a torn anterior cruciate ligament he suffered early in the fourth quarter of the Fighting Maroons' 55-65 Game 2 loss last Wednesday that tied the series, 1-1.

Despite going into the final battle one man down, Mythical Five member Carl Tamayo remains defiant UP will keep the title it fought hard to claim after 36 long years.

"I'm confident with my teammates. We need to play the right way and I think we'll have a good chance at winning the championship," Tamayo, who averaged 11 points in the first two finals matches, said.

Whatever challenge we face on Monday, we'll face it head on.

Newly-minted Most Valuable Player Malick Diouf is also expected to bounce back from a disastrous two-point performance in Game 2 to help the Fighting Maroons retain the crown. Contributions from the likes of JD Cagulangan, James Spencer, Terrence Fortea and Harold Alarcon are crucial for UP's cause.

"Whatever challenge we face on Monday, we'll face it head on," Fighting Maroons coach Goldwin Monteverde said as he hopes to see the same aggressiveness and defensive mindset his squad showed in the team's 72-66 win in the series opener last week.

Ateneo mentor Tab Baldwin, on the other hand, sees Game 3 as a whole new battle.

"Honestly, I think that Game 2 didn't look like Game 1, and I don't expect Game 3 to look like Game 1 or Game 2. I don't really know what it will look like, but we know that that's an outstanding basketball team," he said.

The mentor adds that it will be a game of strategy and quick adjustments between him and Monteverde.

"That's an outstanding coaching staff, they make tremendous adjustments, and we expect that there will be some adjustments," Baldwin said. "It's back to the drawing board now, and it's trying to anticipate. They'll try to anticipate our adjustments, 'cause we will make adjustments."

Leading the pack for the Blue Eagles is the troika of Ange Kouame, Kai Ballungay and Forthsky Padrigao, who did most of the damage in Game 2, along with Dave Ildefonso, BJ Andrade and Chris Koon.

This is the second time in the two protagonists' third finals meeting in four seasons that the series goes to Game 3.

UP hopes it will end with the same result.

"Hopefully it's the same result. So far, the pattern is the same as last season. Hopefully, you know, Lord willing we'll have a repeat," Fighting