Ralph Jude Dinolan of University of San Jose-Recoletos drives to the basket against two University of Southern Philippines-Foundation defenders in the men’s basketball tournament of Cesafi yesterday at the Cebu Coliseum. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
THE Cebu Eastern College (CEC) Baby Dragons hung tough in the endgame and went on to deal the Don Bosco Technological Center (DBTC) Baby Greywolves a second straight defeat via a 63–60 decision yesterday in the 16th season of the Cesafi juniors basketball tournament at Cebu Coliseum.
Harvey Kent Sanchez piled up 17 points, and James Tempra chipped in 16 for the Baby Dragons who pocketed their fourth win in seven outings.
Don Bosco rallied from a seven-point deficit inside the final seven minutes of the contest, but the fightback fell short, sealing the team’s second consecutive defeat.
The Greywolves started the tournament with four straight wins before they ran into a brick wall, losing badly to the three-time defending champion Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, 48–73.
CEC posted a 52–45 lead in the 6:22 mark of the payoff period, but Ken Gato sparked a big run for Don Bosco as he scored seven straight points that tied the contest at 52–all with less than four minutes left to play.
The Dragons responded with a 9–5 assault to regain the upper hand, 61–57, 1:45 to go.
Don Bosco’s Grenald Malubay hit a three-point that made it a one-point game, 60–61, and the Greywolves even had the chance to steal the lead when John Damolo committed a turnover.
A split free throw by John Canoy made it 63–60 with 3.3 seconds left and Don Bosco failed to take a decent shot in the game’s final play, allowing CEC to escape with the close victory.
Al Mendez top scored for the Greywolves with 15 points while Gato and Malubay added 11 and 10 markers, respectively.
In other high school matches, the Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma Baby Cobras downed the University of San Carlos (USC) Baby Warriors, 71–64, while the University of Cebu (UC) Baby Webmasters nipped the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) Wildkittens, 69–56.
SWU improved to 3–4 (win-loss), while USC crashed to 1–5.
Kyle Fritz Ordeniza tallied 13 markers and three steals to lead UC, which joined the Magis Eagles at the number one spot with identical 5–1 slates.
CIT-U further fell to cellar of the standings with its sixth defeat without a single win to show.
In the lone collegiate match, the University of San Jose-Recoletos Jaguars pulled off a lopsided 84–65 win over the University of Southern Philippines Foundation Panthers.
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