The visiting Sarawak Eagles bungled a golden opportunity of making it to the championship round after they bowed to the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors, 64-68, in the men’s division of the Cebu Friendship Invitational Basketball Cup 2016 last Tuesday night at the Cebu Coliseum.
Sarawak’s loss was SG/ARQ’s gain as the Builders earned the second championship seat owing to their superior points differential.
Bogo City became the first finalist after finishing the elimination with a clean 3-0 (win-loss) card.
The Malaysia-based Sarawak, USC and Bogo City all ended up with 1-2 slates.
SG/ARQ went on to secure the second championship slot with its +5 tie break points. Sarawak was -1, while USC was -4.
The championship game between Bogo City and SG/ARQ was still being played as of press time last night at the Cebu Coliseum.
Bogo barely escaped SG/ARQ in their elimination round meeting, 71-69, last Tuesday night.
Mico Pacheco, a former member of the Adamson University Soaring Falcons, powered Bogo with 17 points, while Charles Pepito chipped in 11.
Bogo City’s Cameroonian import tallied 15 points.
Ahmed Salihou led SG/ARQ with 15 points, while Ronan Isidro donated 11.
Sarawak of Cebuano coach Britt Reroma got 21 points from Ma Chee Kuen. Citi Yiek scored 12, while Choo Wei Hong tossed in 10.
Also last Tuesday, the University of Cebu (UC) Baby Webmasters outclassed Sarawak Eagles in a championship preview in the Under-17 division.
Froilan Mangubat topped the Baby Webmasters with a game-high 30 points.
Luigi Gabisan, Jumike Casera and Kyle Ordaniza each had 15 points in a balanced UC attack.
David Ho led Sarawak with 15, while Andy Jong chipped in 10.