Cobras, Jaguars hurdle foes to advance to Mayor Rama Sinulog Cup championship round

JV Veloso of UV secures the rebound against Nelvin Navarra (partly hidden) and Mart Roman Mutya of USJ-R in the Mayor Mike Rama Sinulog Cup at the Cebu Coliseum.
CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON

The Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras and the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars nabbed tickets to the championship game after they hurdled their respective opponents in the 2014 Mayor Mike Rama Sinulog Cup Tuesday night at the Cebu Coliseum.
The Cobras essayed a 65-54 win over the resilient University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors while the Jaguars outlasted the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers in overtime 82-72. The two teams tote identical 2-0 (win-loss) records, thus advancing to the finals slated Thursday.
SWU had to scrap it out for the win as they banked on a torrid 16-7 run in the third period to establish a cushion before finishing off the Warriors with a powerful finishing kick led by import Landry Sanjo.
Sanjo finished with just 13 but had five of SWU’s last seven points that got the Cobras out of harm’s way after USC got within six, 52-58, with 2:55 remaining.
Monbert Arong led SWU with 16 while Adams Mohammed had 15 to pace the Cobras.
In the curtain-raiser, the Lancers actually had the Jaguars on the ropes as rookie Rey Suerte had a chance to win the game after he was fouled while shooting a three-pointer with 5.9 seconds remaining and UV down two, 65-67.
But Suerte got unlucky as his third attempt went awry after making the first two, sending the game to overtime.
The extra session was all USJ-R as James Regalado connived with Mart Mutya to deal the telling blows to the Lancers. Regalado finished with a game-high 24 points while Mutya and new import Quentin Luzoladio had 17 each.