USC Warriors remain unbeaten in CESAFI, beat UC in OT

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors are in the the solo lead of the CESAFI men’s basketball tournament after stretching their record to 4-0 with a 67-62 overtime win against the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters Sunday, August 20 at the New Cebu Coliseum.  

University of the Visayas (UV), for their part, also continued to stay in the win column with the Baby Lancers upsetting the defending champion Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Magis Eagles, 61-58, while the Green Lancers had a blowout win against the Cebu Institute of Technology University (CITU) Wildcats, 113-53.

The other junior game saw the University of San Jose Recoletos (USJR) Baby Jaguars routing the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Panthers, 84-64.

In the collegiate division, while the Green Lancers cruised to an easy win, the Warriors had to go through overtime to keep their record clean.

It had looked like the Warriors were going to have an easy win when they led the Webmasters in the first and second quarters of the ballgame.

The Webmasters, however, started to methodically erase the Warriors’ lead which reached as high as 12 points until a basket from Frederick Ngoh Elombi allowed them to nip at the heels of the Warriors.

The Warriors fought back in the fourth quarter but the Webmasters were not to be outdone as Elombi combined with John Calvin Jabello, Justine Dacalos and Peter Paul Codilla to keep abreast with the Warriors.

The final canto was deadlocked 4 times before Codilla gave the Wemasters a slim lead 57-56 with only seconds remaining in the ballgame.

Julius Salvador Cadavis and Kent Michael Cabañog then bungled their attempts which would have allowed the Warriors to distance themselves from the Webmasters.

Dacalos had a chance to close out the game in favor of the Webmasters, however, he only managed to sink one of his gift shots, 58-56. In the return play and with the time ticking out, John Reel Saycon pulled off a jumper to end the regulation at 58-all.

The Webmasters were leading by 4 points in the overtime, 62-58, however, Lucky Ecarma sank a trey to bring the Warriors close at just a point behind, 61-62.

While Elombi failed all 4 of his free throws, Victor Rabat and Saycon had no problem converting their gift shots which eventually gave them the win.

The Warriors were led by Cabañog and Ecarma with 13 points each and Rabat chipped in 10 points. The Webmasters, on the other hand, had Elombi finishing with 17 points while Jabello and Dacalos handing in 15 and 11 points, respectively.

Jayson Balabag led the Green Lancers scoring spree with 20 points while Jerome Napao and Ted Saga each finished with 14 points.

The Wildcats were towed by Mariel Muñez with 13 points with Steven Bucao accounting for 10 points.

In the high school division, it looked like the Magis Eagles are badly missing their shooting guard Andrew Vincent Velasco who broke his leg in a freak accident last week.

Without Velasco, the Magis Eagles didn’t have an outside threat but despite that, they managed to still eat away at the Baby Lancers lead which the latter posted from the first quarter and even had a chance to forge an overtime had Jed Cedrick Colonia’s trey attempt at the buzzer gone in.

After scoring the first two points of the ballgame and enjoying a 1-point lead, 4-3, the Magis Eagles never had a chance to taste the lead again as they trailed the Baby Lancers 6-18 at the end of the first quarter and 18-34 at halftime.

They tried to come back at the third quarter but the Baby Lancers continued their dominance and managed to hold on to the lead, 47-39, going into the final quarter.

Leading the Baby Lancers demolition of the Magis Eagles was Beirn Anthony Laurente with 14 points with Justin Jake Rosete contributing 10.

The Magis Eagles had 14 points from Christian Manaytay and 11 points from Patrick Wilson Yu.

Leading scorers for the Baby Jaguars were Arnold Dave Ando with 19 points while the Panthers got 21 points from Winston Jay Ynot.

Games Tuesday, August 22

5:15 pm – USC vs CITU (High School)

6:45 pm – USC vs SWU (College)

Scores – High school

Game 1

USJR Baby Jaguars (84) – Ando 19, Gonzaga 15, Echavez 13, Guibao 13, Ranara 8, Robles 6, Teleron 3, Monte de Ramos 2, Tindoy 2, Leonora 1.

USPF Baby Panthers (64) – Ynot 21, Hernando 14, Isabelo 7, RB Singson 6, Ochavo 5, Arboleras 4, Montemayor 4, Maglasang 2, Achacoso 2, FE Singson 1.

Game 2

UV Baby Lancers (61) – Laurente 14, Rosete 10, Cometa 7, Yerro 7,  Paraldo 6, Jelianggao 4, Amistoso 3, Intrampas 3, Maglasang 3, Parilla 2, Omandac 2. 

SHS-AdC Magis Eagles (58) – Manaytay 14, PW Yu 11, Visser 7,Diaz 5, JB Yu 4, Chua 3, Gesalem 1.

College

Game 1

USC Warriors (67) – Cabañog 13, Ecarma 13, Rabat 10, Saycon 9, Araw-Araw 7, Aranas 4, Mangubat 3, Cadavis 2, Marata 2, Oleodo 2, Tan 1, Trangia 1.

UC Webmasters (62) – Elombi 17, Jabello 15, Dacalos 11, Codilla 9, Dela Cruz 3, Gonzaga 2, Puerto 2, Tagudin 2, Kishimoto 1.

Game 2

UV Green Lancers (113) – Balabag 20, Napao 14, Saga 14, Gahi 12, Testa 11, Albina 8, Villaceran 8, Soliva 7, Sackor 6, Tarrosa 5, Hassan 3, Segumpan 3, Cabahug 2.

CITU Wildcats (53) – Muñez 13, Bucao 10, Jabines 6, Kong 9, Laguna 5, King 4, Mumar 2, Rosell 2, Sable 2. – Rappler.com