Games this Friday
10 a.m. — Mapua vs Letran (Jrs)
12 noon — San Sebastian vs Jose Rizal (Jrs)
2 p.m. — Mapua vs Letran vs (Srs)
4 p.m. — San Sebastian vs Jose Rizal (Srs)

They’re allies in the past but when their teams clash this Friday in the 86th NCAA basketball tournament, expect coaches Ato Agustin of San Sebastian College and Vergel Meneses of Jose Rizal University to go after each other’s throat.

Agustin and Meneses were teammates in the 1996 Sunkist squad in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), but their friendship will take a backseat as they try to keep their winning streak going at The Arena in San Juan.

A former PBA Most Valuable Player winner and known as "The Atom Bomb" during his heydays, Agustin is looking for the Stags' fifth straight win and a piece of the lead with San Beda College (5-0).

Out to stop them are Meneses, also a former PBA MVP known as the “Aerial Voyager,” and the Bombers, who are also seeking a fifth consecutive win that will keep them at solo second.

Clashing in the other game at 2 p.m. are Mapua (2-2) and Letran (1-3), both hoping to get back on the winning track following separate defeats.

It will be the first time for both mentors to cross paths in the country's oldest collegiate league and sophomore coach Agustin knows that rookie coach Meneses is determined to pull a surprise.

“We need to break their (JRU) full court defense to have a great chance,” said Agustin, who is expected to rely on Calvin Abueva, Ronald Pascual, John Raymundo and Ian Sangalang. “We need to also toughen up our defense.”

Defense has been the Stags’ best weapon of late which they best exemplified when they trounced Mapua, 68-49.