Diliman College hopes to produce a first in the PG Flex Linoleum-UCBL when it collides with host Olivarez College in the rubber match of their best-of-three title series, Thursday at the Olivarez College gym in Parañaque City.
The match is at 12 noon, with the Diliman Blue Dragons determined to become the first back-to-back champions of the tournament now on its fourth season.
“We have the chance to make history so we will try our very best to accomplish it today,” said Diliman mentor Rensy Bajar — one of the busiest coaches in the country today. He serves as an assistant to Pido Jarencio at NorthPort in the PBA and Bonnie Tan at Letran in the NCAA.
The Blue Dragons forced a knockout match with an 82-72 win on Monday thanks to the red-hot shooting of Robbi Darang and Johnnel Bauzon.
In his finest game so far, Darang erupted for 25 points spiked by five triples, apart from dishing out six assists and three boards. Meanwhile, the 6-foot-4 Bauzon and Abdoulaye Niang added 12 points each.
Olivarez coach Myk Saguiguit offered no excuses to their Game 2 defeat, though. Instead, he vowed to unleash the full might of their vaunted arsenal to get even with the Blue Dragons.
Saguiguit is banking heavily on newly-crowned MVP Jayboy Solis and John Lester Maurillo and reinforcement Yani Elie for their offense. But he also admits the team needs necessary adjustments defensively to slow down Darang.
The Sea Lions, who took the opener, 64-62, are looking for their first championship after two failed tries, including last season where they were dominated by the Blue Dragons.
They also played in the finals of the inaugural season, but were also frustrated by the CEU Scorpions.
