UV Green Lancers open pre-season invitational with back-to-back wins

Mars G. Alison

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

UV Green Lancers open pre-season invitational with back-to-back wins
The 2016 CESAFI champions are in Bayugan as part of their preparation in defending their title in this year’s upcoming season

AGUSAN DEL SUR, Philippines – The University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers opened their campaign in the Kim Lope Asis Mayor’s Cup Basketball Invitational 2017 on the right note by winning in their first two assignments at the Lope Asis Memorial Gymnasium in Bayugan City.

UV head coach Gary Cortes hopes that the third time will be the charm for the Green Lancers, which finished as runner-up in the competition for the past two years.

Last time first runner-up, the other year first runner-up, hopefully makuha na namo ni ang championship diri sa Bayugan kay for how many years pirmi lang mi runner-up diri. We’ll try our very best na makuha namo this year,” said Cortes.

(Last time, first runner-up; the other year, first runner-up. Hopefully we will be able to clinch the championship here in Bayugan because we’ve been first runner-up here for how many years already. We’ll try our best that we’ll be able to get it this year.)

The Green Lancers opened their Bayugan campaign with easy wins, demolishing the Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) Generals, 95-74, then thrashing Cagayan de Oro’s Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan Crusaders, 110-70.

The 2016 Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Incorporations (CESAFI) champions were in Bayugan as part of their preparation in defending their title in this year’s upcoming season.

Tune-up ni namo in preparation for CESAFI kay of course we are playing against EAC and UST, Xavier, top calibre teams in Manila and Mindanao so dako ni siya na tune-up game para sa amoa,” explained Cortes.

(This is our tune-up in preparation for the CESAFI because of course we are playing against EAC and UST, Xavier, top-caliber teams in Manila and Mindanao so this is a big tune-up game for us.)

Two years ago, amo kontra kay mga veterans, nya mga commercial teams, nya last year lig-on pud to nga line-up diri, ang FEU ang amo ka finals. At least with that defeat naa mi nakuha na experience nga nagamit namo going into the CESAFI season,” he added.

(Two years ago, we went up against veterans and commercial teams. Last year, there was also a strong line-up here, we went up against FEU in the finals. At least with that defeat we got an experience that we were able to use going into the CESAFI season.)

100% ready for CESAFI

According to Cortes, the UV Green Lancers is now 100% ready for the upcoming CESAFI season which will open on August 5.

“We will try to defend the land. We’ll just play one game at a time, we will be expecting tough games in every game that we will have in the CESAFI,” said Cortes.

With the upcoming season to use a new format, the Green Lancers are looking at finishing on top after the eliminations.

“It is more of an advantage if a team could finish the eliminations at the top, and that’s what we are looking at, to take advantage of the changes,” said Cortes.

He added that he agreed with the format change so teams that finish at the top after the eliminations will have an advantage.

In this year’s 17th season, the team that sweeps the elimination will get an automatic entry into the finals.

The third and fourth ranked teams will go up against each other in a knockout game with the winner earning the right to face the second-ranked team who will enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage.

According to Cortes, the rookies have now been able to keep up with the kind of system that the Green Lancers have.

“Sa pagkakaron kaya na nila makasabay, it just so happened nga limited lang ila playing time in every game (For now they can already keep up but it just so happened that they have a limited  playing time in every game),” Cortes added.

The UV Green Lancers have also added two players in their line-up– Gileant Delator and Melvin Butohan.

The two are new to the team but not exactly new to CESAFI as they are former members of the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters. As such, they will have to serve one-year residency and can only play for the Green Lancers next season.

Cortes said they accepted Delator and Butohan because both players have potential.

Potential mga bataa gud nya eventually magamit na sila sa among team in preparation for CESAFI next year ug sa remaining nila nga mga playing years sa ilang college diri sa Cebu,” said Cortes.

(These boys have the potential and eventually they could be of use to the team in preparation for CESAFI next year and in their remaining years in their college in Cebu.)

Cortes added that Delator’s talent is exceptional. Delator, he added, also exhibits leadership inside the court and is a hustle player so he is a perfect fit for the UV Green Lancers.

As for Butohan, Cortes sees him as a complete package and despite being young, he is diligent and has a good attitude.

The two have seamlessly joined the team as seen in this tournament.

Other wins

Also posting wins during the first day of the tournament were Xavier University which won over the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Panthers, 100-93; and the University of Sto Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers who dealt the EAC Generals their second loss, 88-77.

The champion will go home with P200,000 while the first runner-up will pocket P150,000. Teams in third, fourth, and fifth place will receive P100,000, P75,000, and P50,000, respectively.

Teams will play in a single round-robin format with the top two teams advancing to the championship and the third- and fourth-ranked teams contesting third place.

Scores:

GAME 1

UV Green Lancers (95) – Albina 15, Delator 10, Segumpan 10, Suerte 10, Balabag 8, Gahi 8, Napao 8, Sackor 8, Janner Hassan 4, Butohan 2, Jossier Hassan 2, Maestre 2, Saga 2, Soliva 2, Testa 2.

EAC Generals (74) – Garcia 16, Munsayac 11, Diego 8, Onwubere 7, Bautista 6, Guzman 6, I. Mendoza 6, Neri 6, Bugarin 4, Altiche 2, Tampoc 2.

GAME 2

Xavier University (100) – Aquino 28, Manatad 24, Jadap 12, Piatti 11, Labares 8, Manosa 8, Gamos 7, Maagad 2.

USPF Panthers (93) – Cuyos 16, Managor 12, Villarta 11, Cauba 10, Patalinghug 10, Quaichon 9, Colina 8, Avanceña 5, Bajamunde 4, Cada 4, Batac 2, Tenebroso 2.

GAME 3 

UST Growling Tigers (88) – Macasaet 25, Faundo 12, Garcia 10, Lee 8, Akomo 7, Soriano 6, De Guzman 5, Huang 5, Sta. Ana 4, Lorenzana 3, Cuanan 2, Romero 2.

EAC Generals (77) – Garcia 23, Munsayac 19, Onwubere 18, Tampoc 6, Bautista 5, Diego 4, Guzman 3, Neki 3.

GAME 4

UV Green Lancers (110) – Suerte 15, Soliva 14, Segumpan 13, Balabag 11, Sackor 6, Saga 6, Delator 5, Testa 9, Maestre 8, Gahi 5, Hassan 5, Napao 5, Albina 3, Hassan 3, Villaceran 2.

Xavier University (70) – Tindoy 16, Sabal 8, Piatti 10, Baang 8, Tabanao 8, Jadap 6, Manatad 6, Maagad 4, Daquit 2, Manosa 2. 

– Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!