CESAFI: UC Webmasters beat CITU for first time in 3 years

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters for the first time in 3 years were finally able to win against the Cebu Institute of Technology University (CITU) Wildcats, 61-52, Saturday, August 20, in the lone collegiate game of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc (CESAFI) held at the New Cebu Coliseum, downtown this city.

The last time that the UC Webmasters won against the CITU Wildcats was in the 2012 Cesafi season when Brian Heruela was still playing for the team. Heruela now plays for San Miguel Beer in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

UC Webmasters’ new head coach, Atty Kenneth Kern Sesante, who found out about it after the game, said it was better that he didn’t know beforehand because it would have added pressure on his part.

However, Sesante, who also used to play for the Webmasters in his college years, said that he doesn’t consider their win against the CITU an achievement on his part as a coach because he wants his wards to do their best in every game regardless of who they are against or if they haven’t won against a particular team.

According to the young head coach, their focus right now is on defense. Aside from the team lacking in height, most of the Webmasters are young and in their rookie year. The UC Webmasters also do not have an import to compensate for their lack in height.

Sesante believes that his wards are making headway in defense because in their past 3 games, they have been forcing their opponents to commit about 30 turnovers, something which he considers a feat especially against powerhouse teams such as the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers.

He said that what the team needs to work on is their maturity because they always collapse towards the endgame such as in their previous game against the Green Lancers last Sunday, August 14.

The win was remarkable as the UC Webmasters had come from a devastating loss against the UV Lancers, a game which they were leading all throughout but which they lost in overtime. What makes the loss more heartbreaking was that UV only wrestled the lead from them in the last 2 minutes of the regulation game.

Sesante, however, said that collapses are to be expected especially when a team is young and mostly manned by rookies.

“I just tell them to let it go. Just keep trying their best and hope that the breaks will come our way,” Sesante said.

Leading the UC Webmasters in silencing the CITU Wildcats was Garciano Puerto with 11 points. He got much needed help from Clint Suelto and Joven Tagudin who contributed 10 markers each and Gileant Delator with 9 points.

The win allowed the UC Webmasters to improve their current standing at third place with a 2-2 win-loss record behind UV Green Lancers and Southwestern University-Phinma Cobras who share the top spot with 3-0 and University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars (2-1).  

In the high school contest, the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles came back from their loss to the UC Junior Webmasters with a masterful 74-27 demolition of the University of San Carlos Baby Warriors. 

The Don Bosco Greywolves, on the other hand, extends their winning streak to 3-0 and now shares the top spot with the UC Junior Webmasters following an 89-71 whipping of the University of Souther Philippines Foundation (USPF) Baby Panthers.

The other High School game saw the Cebu Eastern College Dragons lambasting the USJ-R Baby Jaguars, 68-59.

Scores:

College

UC Webmasters (61) – Puerto 11, Suelto 10, Tagudin 10, Delator 9, Dacalos 7, Mayol 3, Paghasin 2, Codilla 5, Bautista 2, Nazareno 2.

CITU Wildcats (52) – Navarro 13, Bucao 9, Maglasang 8, Lucena 6, Manatad 5, Munez 3, Alicaway 2, Ariar 2, Sanchez 2, Pono 1, Rosell 1.

Games Schedule Sunday, August 21, New Cebu Coliseum

HS

1 pm – UC vs UV

2:30 pm – CITU vs SWU

College

4 pm – USPF vs UV

5:30 pm – USJ-R vs SWU

– Rappler.com