THE UST Teletigers Esports Club (UST TGR) placed first in both its pools, earning a playoff spot in the UAAP Season 87 esports tournament on Aug. 14, Wednesday.
UST’s Group A had a 6-1 record, while Group B managed to go spotless in its bracket, 7-0, at the Areté in Ateneo de Manila University.
“Job’s not finished… [O]ur goal is the championship… [W]e are hoping for them both to make it to the finals,” Teletigers’ NBA2K manager Miguel Carlo Hubillar told The Flame.
Daemiel Argame of Group B opened the second day of the tournament by using the Boston Celtics to take down DLSU Viridus Arcus Esports Kegan Yap’s Oklahoma City Thunder (38-33) and the NU Bulldogs (68-49).
“The remaining opponents are very good players so we plan to give our utmost effort to top those players,” Argame said.
Group B’s Gideon del Val used the Los Angeles Lakers to dismantle the UE Zenith Warriors (65-41). Del Val then chose Milwaukee Bucks to beat FEU Tamaraw Esports’ Justin Lagmay (45-29).
“We still believe that the remaining opponents are a threat, that’s why we won’t back down; we’ll make sure to give it our all,” del Val told The Flame.
After going undefeated in Pool A, Teletiger Eryx delos Reyes absorbed his first loss against the UP Fighting Maroons (48-31). However, delos Reyes bounced back by winning his remaining matches against UE (56-51) and Adamson’s Joaquin Lorenz Abando (52-44).
Hubillar said that the Thomasian egamers’ mindset would be different despite being at the top of their groups.
“Composure would be the key. We will be playing like the underdogs, we will make sure we are hungrier than our opponents, whoever it may be,” he said.
UST’s delos Reyes will battle DLSU’s Kegan Yap of Group B. Meanwhile, Group B winners Argame and del Val are set to go against Ateneo’s Justin Lagac and Paolo Medina of Group A. F
