Game today:

(Mall of Asia Arena)

4 p.m. — La Salle vs UP

Defending champion University of the Philippines (UP) gets the chance to negate its two losses to De La Salle University in the elimination round when they kick off the best-of-three finals series of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 88 men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday.

Game time is at 4 p.m. with the Fighting Maroons seeking to repeat its mastery of the Green Archers when they collide at the Mall of Asia Arena.

In the past two seasons, UP and La Salle took turns reigning over the premier collegiate league in the country.

Season 86 saw the Archers shoot down the Fighting Maroons under the tutelage of head coach Topex Robinson and led by stars Kevin Quiambao, Mark Nonoy, and Evan Nelle.

One year later in Season 87, UP got its revenge as it dethroned La Salle to clinch its second crown in four years under mentor Goldwin Monteverde and behind veterans JD Cagulangan and Quentin Millora-Brown.

Facing each other again for the third straight time, Season 88 will serve as the decider on who is the better team in this trilogy.

For Monteverde, it will be more about fine-tuning and adjusting as they hope to get a win over La Salle after getting swept in the elimination round.

The Maroons finished in second place in the preliminaries with a 10-4 win-loss record and used their twice-to-beat advantage to eliminate University of Santo Tomas, 82-81 in the Final Four last 3 December at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“As we always do, every after game, the first thing that comes to our mind is our team. We always believe that even if we are in the tail-end of the season, we will still learn more as a team and develop maturity,” said Monteverde, who hopes to guide his seniors Harold Alarcon, Gerry Abadiano, Terrence Fortea, Reyland Torres and Janjan Felicilda to one more title in their final year.

“The focus for now is just to look for what we need to improve and at the same time, see which team we’ll go up against.”

Monteverde said reaching his fifth UAAP finals with UP is already an achievement in itself after bouncing back from a 0-2 start in Season 88.

“Well, as a coach, you can’t ask for anything more from the team, right? You see the effort they put into every game. Starting the season 0-2 was tough, but seeing them come together and respond after those first two losses, that’s something,” Monteverde said.

“Of course, my part is also to guide them, but watching the team — especially my players — go through all the ups and downs and still bounce back, I just know I can trust them to rise again and for me, that alone makes me very proud.”

Meanwhile, Robinson said they expect no less than a dogfight as beating the Maroons again in the finals is harder compared to the elimination round.

La Salle barely made it to the semifinals after finishing in fourth place with an 8-6 record and overcame a twice-to-beat disadvantage to upset top-seeded National University and return to the finals.

“I really don’t know what’s going to happen this time but one thing is for sure, we’re happy to be here. It really tested the character of this team, but what a way to end those struggles,” Robinson said.

“When we built this team, we wanted to make sure that, at the end of the season, they become one. When everybody was doubting us, pushing us away already, and not counting us in, it gave us the motivation — not to prove to others — but to prove to ourselves that we are capable as long as we stick together.”

While emotions are expected to be high for this championship series, Robinson said he remains respectful of Monteverde and hopes to learn from him while they vie for the crown for their respective schools.