LA Salle will be missing one of its key rotation players in a game where it will try to snag an outright semifinals spot in the UAAP Season 88.
EJ Gollena will be serving his one-game suspension when the Green Archers take on archrivals Ateneo Blue Eagles this Wednesday in what could be one of the most crucial elimination round rivalry games in the most recent years.
READ: SCENARIOS: One playoff berth left for La Salle, Ateneo, FEU to fight over
The UAAP Commissioner’s Office handed down the one-game ban on Gollena after a disqualifying foul committed on UP’s Francis Nnoruka last Saturday.
With 6.6 seconds left in the first quarter, Gollena hit Nnoruka in the sternum after the two got entangled on the inbound play. The guard was ejected after being assessed with a disqualifying foul.
The third-year player is averaging 6.3 points and three boards per game as one of coach Topex Robinson’s 3-and-D guys.
A win for La Salle this Wednesday over Ateneo will assure its entry in the UAAP Season 88 final four where top seed National University awaits.
But if the Green Archers lose against Ateneo, it will drag them to a knockout game against the same team for the fourth and final semis spot.
Worst case, La Salle would be battling FEU in the first phase of the knockout stepladder for fourth should it lose to Ateneo and the Tamaraws upset UST in the first game of the double-header.
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