REPEAT: Cobras thwart Green Lancers anew on Ian Ortega’s heroics

Quentin Nzuzi (15) of Southwestern University Cobras and Basierre Sackour of the University of the Visayas Green Lancers battle for the ball in the 16th Cesafi men’s basketball tournament at the Cebu Coliseum yesterday. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Games today (Cebu Coliseum)

1:00 p.m. – CEC vs USJ-R (High School)
2:30 p.m. – UC vs Don Bosco (High School)
4:00 p.m. – USPF vs CIT (College)
5:30 p.m. – UC vs USC (College)

Veteran wingman Ian Ortega came up big for Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma as he canned a go-ahead three-pointer with nine seconds remaining to help the Cobras vanquish their bitter rivals, the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers, 70-67, in the 16th Cesafi men’s basketball tournament yesterday at the Cebu Coliseum.

A member of the University of San Carlos (USC) system for over a decade, Ortega made the move to the Cobras camp just this season. Yesterday, he made his biggest impact as he scored 20 points to fuel SWU’s comeback from 19 points down.

Two-time MVP Macmac Tallo, under duress for most of the match, scored just 10 but dished out five assists. The win, SWU’s 12th in a row, gave the Cobras a sweep of the elimination round, and sent UV crashing to their fourth loss in 11 games and down to third place in the standings.

UV started off hot and swished six three-pointers in the first half to lead, 34-15. But the Cobras relented and came roaring back to take the lead late in the third, 49-48, after a triple by Shaquille Imperial.

SWU kept at it and appeared headed to the win as they took a 65-61 lead after a huge triple by Tallo, 2:15 to go. However, UV pushed back and regained the driver’s seat, 67-65, after a corner three-pointer by skipper Josue Segumpan, time down to 38.4 seconds.

But the Cobras had an answer as Ortega got the pass after a mad looseball scramble and calmly drained the go-ahead long-range bomb for a 67-68 lead. The Lancers had a shot at taking back the lead but threw the ball away on an alley-oop play for Rey Suerte. Tallo then sealed the win with two from the line.

Meanwhile in the other collegiate games, the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT–U) Wildcats won their first game of the season in style as they defeated the defending champions USC Warriors, 78-70.

USC was up by as much as 10 but CIT-U slowly made headway and took over in the fourth period for their first victory in 10 games. Veteran guard Marlo Pono led the Wildcats’ balanced offense with 12 points, five assists and three steals while Carmelo Lucena and Kenneth Ariar each had 11 while combining for 13 boards. Steve Bucao added 10.

The Warriors dropped to 5-6 in spite of the 17 of Kevin Oleodo and the 13-point, 11-rebound effort of Scotty Ntumba.

The University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars were also victorious as they rallied in the final frame to defeat the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Panthers, 69-60

It was USJ-R’s eighth win in 11 tries, while USPF fell to 2-8.