University of San Jose-Recoletos’ Juan Miguel Gastador soars for a lay-up against Gio Laguyo of University of San Carlos in the Cesafi men’s basketball tournament last night at the Cebu Coliseum. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
USJ-R Jaguars net big win, down USC Warriors in Cesafi hoop wars
The University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars leaned on a strong third-period performance to best the defending champions University of San Carlos (USC)Warriors, 75–61, in the 16th Cesafi men’s basketball tournament last night at the Cebu Coliseum.
The Jaguars were down by nine early in the second but recovered to grab the lead at halftime before outscoring the Warriors, 34–12, in the third to pave the way for their third win in five matches. The Warriors fell to an even 2–2 (win-loss) after the loss.
Burly forward RJ Dinolan led the Jaguars with 20 points and eight rebounds while Jaybie Mantilla and Miguel Gastador each had 15 markers.
Mantilla added 10 boards to complete yet another double-double. Nelvin Navarra and Victor Munez submitted 10 apiece.
The Warriors established control early and erected a nine-point lead, 26–17, after a deuce by African reinforcement Scotty Ntumba. But the Jaguars found a chink in USC’s armor in their inconsistent guard play and they pounced with an 11–2 run sparked by the three-point shooting of crafty point man Jaybie Mantilla to take a 31–30 lead into halftime.
The third period, though, was all Jaguars as they ended that stretch with a searing 14–2 rally that was punctuated by a short stab by Navarra, a long triple by Nunez, a steal and an unmolested lay-in by Gastador and another lay-up by Navarra that pushed their lead to 65–42, heading to the final canto.
The Warriors tried to make their way back and trimmed the deficit down to 11, 58–69, behind a barrage of three-pointers by Kevin Oleodo. But the Jaguars composed themselves down the stretch to secure the victory.
Oleodo finished with 12 markers, all from beyond the arc.
In the juniors division, the USJ-R Baby Jaguars ripped apart the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) Wildkittens, 100–50, to even their record up at 2–2 while sending their opponents further down the barrel at 0–4.