By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Four Negros Occidental-based players are rostered to play in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament, which will kick off at the Smart Araneta Coliseum this afternoon.

Among the four Negrenses suiting up for the upcoming UAAP collegiate season, three traced their roots from Negros Occidental and another one from Bacolod City.

The University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons has two Negrenses on their roster in Negros Occidental’s Silay City-native Harold Alarcon and Bago City-native Reyland Torres.

The Adamson University Falcons has Negros Occidental’s Isabela-native rookie Kenji Cañete, while the National University Bulldogs has Bacolod’s Donn Spencer Lim.

Other participating schools in the UAAP Season 87 are the De La Salle University Green Archers, the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles, the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers, and the University of the East Red Warriors.

Action kicks off at 6:00 p.m., with season-host Fighting Maroons facing the revamped Blue Eagles, which had lost several key players during the offseason, in a battle of Katipunan.

On Sunday afternoon, September 8, the Growling Tigers will open their campaign against the Red Warriors, the Tamaraws battling the Falcons, and the Green Archers facing the Bulldogs./ASC, WDJ