CESAFI: UV Green Lancers, SWU Cobras remain unbeaten

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers and the Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras extended their unbeaten streaks to 4-0 after outlasting their respective opponents Sunday, August 21, in the collegiate contest of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc (CESAFI) held at the New Cebu Coliseum, downtown this city.

Both teams continue to share the top spot in the league as they have yet to drop a game so far this season.

While the UV Green Lancers cruised to an easy 83-67 win against the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Panthers, the SWU Cobras had to go through a 5-minute extension to prevail over the University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars, 82-71, after the regulation ended at 64-all.

The Cobras had a chance to close out the game in regulation, however, Jovanie Luz failed to convert his two gift shots. In the return play and with the seconds trickling out, Juan Miguel Gastador pulled up a jumper from the sidelines and forced an overtime to keep the Jaguars in the ballgame.

SWU had early control of the ballgame when they posted a 6-point advantage over USJ-R, 15-9, at the end of the first quarter.

Jaybie Mantilla came to the rescue early in the second quarter as he singlehandedly brought the Jaguars to just a point behind the Cobras, 16-17, with his 5 straight points. 

Ralph Jude Dinolan grabbed the lead for the Jaguars with 5 minutes left before the break and held on to it with a slim 2-point advantage at halftime.

The Jaguars then worked hard to protect their lead and managed to extend it to 6 points, 52-46, going into the final canto with Victor Baldo Nunez adding to the efforts of Gastador and Dinolan.

Despite 4 straight points from 2014 MVP Mark Jayven Tallo, the Cobras continued to trail the Jaguars, that is, until Mark Racho was able to tie the ballgame at 58-all.

A 3-point play by Sir Shaquille Imperial who was fouled by Mantilla on the way to the basket allowed the Cobras to take back the lead at 61-58. 

The Jaguars refused to concede and continued to come closer following the two charities from Gastador.

It had seemed that lady luck was on the Jaguars side as Cobras’ Bernie Bregondo inadvertently tipped the ball inside the basket following a scuffle underneath the goal and allowed the Jaguars to come closer at 62-64 with just 13.9 seconds remaining.

Luz then wasted his charities for the Cobras and Gastador became the savior for the Jaguars with his clutch shot that prompted the overtime.

However, as if to compensate for his earlier mistake, Bregondo waxed hot in overtime with 6 points and was very instrumental in pulling the Cobras out of reach from the Jaguars, who at crunch-time seemed to have forgotten they were a team.

Bregondo was eventually named best player of the game for the second-straight time. He finished with 15 points, pulled 7 boards, managed one steal and two blocks.

Before the 5-minute extension could end, the sizeable crowd who came to watch the game roared with laughter after one of the referees slipped on the floor which momentarily halted the game.

SWU import Congolese Quentin Nzuzi may have managed only 8 points but he certainly made life hard for the Jaguars under the goal with his 6’11 frame. He pulled down 19 rebounds.  

The Jaguars, who share the second spot with the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters with a similar 2-2 card, has another problem on their hands as they will be missing the services of Ricky Peromingan in their next game as he has been suspended after he was called for 2 unsportsmanlike fouls. Aside from a one-game suspension, Peromingan will be find P5,000 and made to serve four hours of community service. This brings USJ-R’s 10-man lineup to just 9.

It was a grand day for UV and SWU as their junior counterparts also won their respective games in the high school contest. The UV Baby Lancers stopped the winning streak of the UC Junior Webmasters with a 67-61 outsmarting while the SWU Baby Cobras annihilated Cebu Institute of Technology University (CIT-U) Wildkittens, 70-58.

Games Schedule August 23, Tuesday, New Cebu Coliseum

5:15 pm – SWU vs DBTC (HS)

6:45 pm – USC vs CITU (College)

– Rappler.com