Old rival SWU up next for the streaking Green Archers

The boys from Taft will be facing a familiar foe tomorrow, the 23rd of May, although this time it won’t be a UAAP or an NCAA team waiting for them, but a rival school from the South.

The DLSU Green Archers will be clashing with Cebuano powerhouse and defending CESAFI champions Southwestern University Cobras this Saturday for their FilOil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup pre-season showdown at the Arena in San Juan City.

Coming off an impressive 96-82 victory against a then undefeated Red Warrior squad, DLSU is looking to build on the momentum and continue their winning streak in tomorrow’s game against SWU. Rookie Andrei Caracut continued his impressive summer campaign last week, dazzling for 21 points built on five triples, most of which were made during the second half.

Prince Rivero, who was recently added in the SEA games basketball team roster, put up 15 markers of his own while newcomer Joshua Torralba and veteran Jason Perkins added 12 and 11 points, respectively, in the dominating win. Unfortunately for the team, they lost 3rd year guard Kib Montalbo to an ACL injury during the match, possibly eliminating him from playing any form of basketball until next year.

Southwestern, on the other hand, made their tournament debut earlier today against the Mapua Cardinals of the NCAA. They lost, 81-73, behind an inspired performance from the Cardinals, who recently won the Mayor’s Cup in Cebu. Despite this, the Cobras look to immediately get back on track by trying to snatch a victory against a tough DLSU side.

It could be noted that these two teams have a history with each other. Current Green Archer center Ben Mbala was originally from SWU, where he made a name for himself after leading the Cebu-based team to the final four of the 2012 PCCL tournament. He transferred to La Salle after impressive performances against Manila-based teams.

On the other side, Cobras starting point guard Mark Jayven Tallo played one year for the Green Archers before going back to Cebu to play college ball.

In their more recent encounters, SWU and DLSU faced each other three times during the 2013 PCCL Final Four while also clashing in the semi finals of last year’s FilOil tourney. Southwestern upset the Green Archers in their first PCCL game but the Green Archers had come back and swept them in the finals. They had done the same last year by once again denying the Cobras another chance at the championship by virtue of beating them in the 2014 FilOil semis.

Expect no less than a competitive game from these two powerhouse teams. With both teams having clear motives to win, the crowd could be in for another physical and exciting match.