MANILA, Philippines — National University and La Salle Greenhills set a winner-take-all match for the seventh Philippine Secondary Schools Basketball Championship ‘Rain or Shine Cup’ by downing their respective semis rivals on Wednesday at the SGS gym in Quezon City. The NU Bullpups rode high on a 30-point explosion in the second quarter to dethrone the San Beda Red Cubs, 89-78, and advance to the final of the event dubbed “Battle of Champions” for the first time. The Greenies, whose bid for back-to-back championships in the NCAA was denied by Malayan University (Mapua) recently, also earned their first final appearance following a 72-66 win over the Far Eastern U Baby Tamaraws. “It’s UAAP versus NCAA so I’m sure it’s going to be an exciting finale,” said league chairman Terry Que of Rain or Shine. NU leaned heavily on the splendid performance of wily guard Cyril Rey Gonzales to deny the Red Cubs a second straight and fourth overall final appearance.

Source: Philippine Star December 20, 2018 16:36 UTC