THE STANDS: An INQUIRER Sports Newsletter

 

December 6, 2024

National U wowed the crowd with their out-of-this-world routine. (UAAP MEDIA)

Hey there sports fan, How about those NU cheerdancers, huh? They became the third team to win the annual spectacle eight times, tying the record shared by University of Santo Tomas and University of the Philippines. And immediately, the team said it was gunning for more victories. The National U Pep Squad has been described as being "out of this world" several times in the past. So the team coaches decided to make that their theme, wowing the crowd with jaw-dropping stunts on the way to their latest triumph. Indeed, the spectacular performances of the eight schools were a welcome respite from the breathless basketball action that UAAP Season 87 has produced so far. And we're now in the homestretch of those tournaments. The men's and women's finals will begin and four teams are looking to be the last two squads standing. We'll keep you covered throughout that busy stretch of basketball action. And it's not any cooler on the other side of the varsity fence. Mapua started out strong in the NCAA men's basketball finals, whipping a St. Benilde squad that had been the favorites for most of this season. Don't count out the Blazers, though. They're not the type to just roll over. By the way, the women's finals in the UAAP will feature UST's Kent Pastrana, who will lead the defending champion UST Tigresses against a dominant NU Lady Bulldogs.  Do you know from what program Pastrana was recruited? Answer can be found at the end of this email.

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La Salle is more ready to face UP than it was last season. (UAAP MEDIA)

Meanwhile on Plus... La Salle came into last season's UAAP men's basketball finals against UP unprepared. They still won the crown. Will the Maroons stand a chance in the rematch, considering that the Archers swear they are much more prepared than they were last year? Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo needed just a spark of inspiration to revive her hunger for international glory. She found that spark in a grassroots tournament she is quite familiar with.  "Really, really hungry," was how Gel Cayuna described her HD Spikers teammates this conference. Cignal wants to make up for all those shortcomings and vows to go all out to win the crown this time. What we're up to next: We'll bring you stories, updates, features and highlights from the basketball finals of UAAP Season 87 and the historic NCAA Season 100. Can Mapua hang on? Will St. Benilde fight back? Keep it here. We'll also cover extensively the PBA Commissioner's Cup and the PVL All -Filipino Conference. We will bring youy some football features as well as the men's national team prepares to compete in the Asean Football Federation championship. Number of the Week: 2 Players who have made at least 3,000 triples in the NBA. James Harden breached that mark, allowing him to join Steph Curry as the only players to achieve that feat so far.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “They said from the start it’s gonna be a war going in there. We have two more games we have to lock in to.” —Quentin Millora-Brown, UP Maroons big man, on facing defending champion La Salle in the UAAP Finals.

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La Salle. That's the answer to the trivia question above. Think you can ace the rest of our weekly sports quiz? head over to our Viber community and try the test out! Buy the Inquirer at newsstands, subscribe to our digital edition, Inquirer Plus, visit our online site and follow us on socials (Twitter: @inquirersports; FB: facebook.com/inquirersports) for more stories and updates—or to send us questions or suggestions of stories you'd want to read. See you next Friday! Francis Francis T. J. Ochoa is the Sports Editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. For comments, suggestions and questions, hit him up on Twitter (@ftjochoaINQ).