UV’s Gullas says no instruction given to intentionally lose game: ‘We lost to a better team’
Games today:
Cebu Coliseum)
4 p.m. – USJ-R vs SWU (For Third)
5:30 p.m. – UV vs USC (Game 1, Finals)
The University of the Visayas (UV) team manager Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas defended his Green Lancers against insinuations that they intentionally dropped their match against the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors in order to avoid facing off against bitter rivals, Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma Cobras, in the finals of the 16th Cesafi men’s basketball tournament which begins today at the Cebu Coliseum.
The Warriors prevailed over the Lancers, 72–65, on Thursday to seal the fate of the Cobras, which in spite of their stellar 12-0 win-loss record in the classification round, was relegated to playing for third place against the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars. Had UV won that match, it would have faced the Cobras in the best-of-five finals.
Gullas, also Cebu’s First District representative, bristled at comments made by basketball observers on social media sites, especially those that branded them “cowards.”
“People are entitled to their own opinions. But honestly, no instructions were given to the UV Green Lancers to do such thing (lose the game). To throw away a game to not face SWU? UV would never do that. I have so much respect for SWU, they have two of the best coaches this country has ever seen, and arguably the most talented one on one player in Cebu, even the country. We would have loved to face them in the finals and hopefully beat them in the finals. But it wasn’t meant to be. Does that make us cowards?” said Gullas in a statement that he released via his personal Facebook page.
The Green Lancers were up by 11 in the third period but failed to protect their lead down the stretch against a hot-shooting Warriors squad. The loss forged a finals rematch of last year’s title showdown which USC won in a thrilling five-game series.
Gullas admitted that they lost to a better team, one which has beaten them twice in three match-ups so far this season.
Interestingly, SWU’s star guard Macmac Tallo, came to UV’s defense and implored Cebuano basketball fans to give the two finalists credit.
“We don’t have to make an issue about the game of UV and USC. If you saw the game, you can see how hard both teams played. It was really an intense game so let’s move forward. We don’t have to blame UV,” Tallo said.
In the end, Gullas implored everyone to quit with the conspiracy theories.
“If SWU didn’t want this to happen, rest assured we didn’t want it to happen as well. We honestly don’t match up well with USC and that’s why we lost.”