Jaguars tighten grip of second place with win over Wildcats

Kido Cabrera of the USJ-R Jaguars drives past against CIT-U WIldcat’s Kerr Louise Nemil during their game in the Cesafi men’s basketball competition at the Cebu Coliseum.
CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON

The University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars solidified their hold of the second spot in the standings after they clobbered the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) Wildcats, 90-75, in the 17th Cesafi men’s basketball tournament last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

The Wildcats hung tough but the Jaguars had too much firepower and took control of the game in the fourth with a 9-0 blast that turned a slim 67-61 lead into a huge 15-point cushion, 76-61, with 7:28 left in the game.

Julius Pacanuayan led the Jaguars with 16 points and 10 rebounds while point guard and MVP contender Jaybie Mantilla had another stellar outing with 14 points, seven boards, five assists and a steal as USJ-R cruised to its sixth win in eight games.

John Ubalde, RJ Dinolan and Braulio Compra combined for 31 markers.

USJ-R took control at the start of the last canto as Kido Cabrera scored a deuce, Compra nailed a triple, Dinolan swished a long two and Victor Nunez canned a putback to put the Jaguars up by 15.

CIT-U continued their downward spiral, falling to 1-9.

Mark Kong led the Wildcats with 17, Jemcerson Sable chipped in 15 while Mariel Munez fired in 14.

In high school action, the University of Cebu (UC) Baby Webmasters locked up the fourth spot and the last ticket to the stepladder playoffs with a 74-70 win over the USJ-R Baby Jaguars.

The UC duo of Virlou Orquez and Johnbryle Cuyos did the most damage with 26 and 15 points, respectively, to give them a 5-4 record.

USJ-R dropped to 5-3 but will still advance to the next round regardless of the outcome of their final elimination round game.