The 2018 SMART City Hoops Bobby Lutuaco Cup is set to end with a bang
Three champions will be crowned on Saturday, February 24 at the Greenhills West Gym in San Juan City while the champion in the Under-10 division will be decided on Sunday, Feberuary 25 at Ronac Center, still in San Juan.
Headlining the quadruple main event serving of the league that is presented by Chooks-to-Go and powered by PLDT FIBR and Cignal TV is a heated finale in the under-14 division that will pit the top-seeded La Salle Green Hills Greenies and the National University Bullpups.
The Greenies had only one blemish during the elimination round campaign, a loss to the Bullpups. The Bullpups though have had the number of the Green and White, defeating them in the PSBL Midgets Finals and eliminating them in the Passarelle semifinals.
Besides the bad blood between the two squads, it will be a reunion of sorts for NU’s Kenji Duremdes and La Salle’s Kenshin Padrones as the two were just playing for LSGH and NU respectively a year ago.
Tip-off for the U-14 Final is set at 12:00nn.
Opening the day will be a battle of two NCAA squads in the Under-16 Final as the top-seeded Lyceum-Cavite Junior Pirates takes on the San Sebastian College-Recoletos Junior Stags at 9:00am.
While Lyceum cruised to the last stage of the tournament, same could not be said about San Sebastian as it had to outlast the Ateneo Blue Eaglets in a playoff match before surviving the UST Tiger Cubs in the semis.
The Stags are led by CJ Austria, who is averaging a whopping 18.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per contest.
The Xavier Golden Stallions and lead gunner Paolo Rodriguez are still waiting on the victor of the Marist-Ateneo tilt in the under-12 division. The U-12 final is at 10:30am.
To close out the tournament, Xavier faces La Salle in the under-10 final on Sunday.
Tickets for Saturday is priced at PHP 50. Head to the SMART City Hoops Manila for more information.
