Jaybie Mantilla (11) of University of San Jose-Recoletos collides with Cebu Institute of Technology-University’s Wilkin Lemuel Sanchez in their seniors match of the 16th Cesafi basketball tournament at the Cebu Coliseum last night.
(CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
THE University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars secured the second seed heading to the quarterfinals of the 16th Cesafi men’s basketball tournament as they outlasted the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) Wildcats, 95-89, last night at the Cebu Coliseum.
Tricky Peromingan scored a whopping 30 points including two free-throws that sealed the victory after the Wildcats came within four, 89-93, with 1:24 to go. The Jaguars finished with a 9-3 (win-loss) card and will take on the Wildcats in the next round, armed with a twice-to-beat advantage.
Jaybie Mantilla piled up 20 points, Miguel Gastador chipped in 11 while RJ Dinolan tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds to complete the rousing victory which had its fair share of nervous moments down the stretch.
USJ-R led by 14, 76-62, at the start of the fourth but CIT-U clawed their way back after back-to-back triples by Wilkins Sanchez and Steve Bucao brought them within four, 89-93. The Wildcats even had a shot to come close but Bucao flubbed a triple on their next offensive.
The Jaguars gifted the Wildcats another shot to trim the lead further after Gastador missed three free-throws but again, CIT-U wasted away their chance by throwing away the inbound pass leading to Peromingan’s game-sealing makes from the charity stripe.
CIT-U got 18 apiece from Kelvin Maglasang and Karl Lucena while Marlo Pono added 17.
Meanwhile, the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers finished the elimination round on a high note as they demolished the University of Southern Philippines (USPF) Panthers, 85-64.
The win allowed the Green Lancers to finish with the third best record at 7-4 and will play against the very same Panthers squad, which finished the classification round with a 3-9 mark, good for the sixth seed. UV will only have to win once in order to move on to the semifinals.
Jayson Balabag led UV with 15 points and eight rebounds while Tristan Albina, finally got his rhythm back and tallied 12 points.