CESAFI: University of Cebu remains in Final Four contention with SWU win

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters remained in contention in the seniors division of the 15th CESAFI men’s basketball tournament as they gain a share of the fourth spot with an upset win over defending champion Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras Saturday, September 19 at the New Cebu Coliseum.

The other collegiate game had the Cebu Institute of Technology (CITU) Wildcats ending their elimination campaign with an 85-80 outsmarting of the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Panthers.

The win allows the Webmasters to tie with the University of San Jose Recoletos (USJR) Jaguars at fourth place as both teams tote a 4-6 win-loss record with two more games to play while the Wildcats plays the waiting game at fifth place with a 5-7 card.

SWU absorbs second straight upset loss from UC

The Webmasters relied on Clint Suelto who finished with a career high 17 points to earn the best player of the ballgame honors. He made 6 of 12 field goals, pulled down three rebounds and accounted for a steal.

Earldred Cesar Montilla, whose 3 treys in the first quarter were largely responsible for giving the Webmasters a 4-point lead at 20-16 going into the second canto, and Justine Dacalos finished with 11 points each.

Mark Jayven “Mac-Mac” Tallo showed why he was named the league’s most valuable player twice as he finished with a huge double-double performance of 30 points and 18 rebounds. He also dished out 3 assists.

Tallo found a tag team partner in Jan Michael Auditor, a former Webmaster, who chipped in 16 points.

The two sparked a rally and repeatedly draw fouls that resulted to triple plays to effectively cut down a 20-point Webmaster advantage in the third quarter to just four points as the Cobras gagged the Webmasters to a 14-0 run with five minutes remaining going to the final canto.

Their efforts, however, went for naught as Garciano Puerto Jr. and Joseph Daniel Mayol waded into the Webmasters’ scoring spree to hand UC with a seven-point advantage as the endgame buzzer sounded.

CITU hands USPF eleventh loss

Last season’s points leader Joshua Romelle dela Cerna fittingly ends the current season as the player of the ballgame with his double-double performance of 30 points and 10 rebounds. He also tallied two steals and two assists.

Dela Cerna got the much needed help from Joerio Kristoffer Mumar who chipped in a huge 17 points as he converted five out of six 3-point field goals.

The Panthers who is left with one more game to post a win this season had four of their players finishing in double figures, albeit for a losing cause. John Allain Alocillo topscored with 14 points, Jawein Wisdom Ceniza contributed 12 points while Lyndon Colina and Clyde Drexler Avancena, who became the Panthers go-to-guy in this game, each had 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The Wildcats opened the ballgame with a 7-0 run before the Panthers started clawing in to tie the game at 32-all with five minutes remaining in the first half.

However, every time the Panthers come close, the Wildcats would score straight baskets largely behind the efforts of Dela Cerna and Mumar to pull away.

The Panthers had managed to deadlock the game again at 61-all at the 8:58 mark of the final canto anchored on the back-to-back triples of Ceniza and Karl Langahin, however, Dela Cerna and Mumar got the much needed help from Jose Allan Dimco and Steven Bucao to ensure that the Wildcats would end their elimination campaign with a win.

Game schedule – September 20 at New Cebu Coliseum

Juniors Semifinals

2:30 pm – SHS-AdC vs USC

4 pm – UC vs UV

College Eliminations

5:30 PM – USC vs UV

Scores:

First game:

UC (82) – Suelto 17, Montilla 11, Dacalos 11, Mayol 8, Butohan 8, Puerto 8, Culango 7, Jabello 6, Tagudin 6, Santander 0, Codilla 0, Grafilo 0, Dumat-ol 0.

SWU (75) – Tallo 30, Auditor 16, Pardo 8, Racho 7, Luz 6, Holper 5, Gonzaga 3, Clam 0.

Quarter Scores: 20-16; 46-35; 64-60; 82-75.

CIT-U (86) – Dela Cerna 30, Mumar 17, Dimco 9, Bucao 4, Aloro 4, Sanchez 3, Kong 3, Taghoy 3, Maglasang 2, Marquez 2, Muñez 2, Brigoli 0, Patiño 0.

USPF (80) – Alocillo 14, Ceniza 12, Colina 11, Avanceña 10, Bajamunde 8, Borces 6, Langahin 6, Sastrillas 5, Quiachon 4, Villamor 3, Bolivar 2, Patalinghug 0.

Quarter Scores: 23-14; 44-35; 61-55; 86-80. – Rappler.com