5 p.m. – SWU vs UC (High School)
6:30 p.m. – SWU vs UC (College)
An explosive opening-day match-up will be served up to Cebuano basketball fans today as the Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma Cobras take on the retooled University of Cebu Webmasters in the 17th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) men’s basketball tournament at the New Cebu Coliseum.
Game time will be at 6:30 p.m. following the high school game between UC and SWU.
Before the hostilities start, a grand opening ceremony will ensue starting at 1 p.m. Apart from the customary “Palabas” numbers by the different dance troupes of the various member schools and the much-awaited Miss Cesafi Pageant, posthumous awards will also be given to departed Cesafi luminaries Dr. Potenciano Larrazabal of Cebu Doctors’ University and Engr. Gregorio Escario of the Cebu Institute of Technology-University.
All eyes will be on the basketball floor as UC head coach Yayoy Alcoseba leads his new squad against his former team that he led to two titles in the five seasons he was at the helm.
It will be a battle of wits and will as SWU-Phinma head coach Mike Reyes is expected to pull out all the stops against his former general, a man he worked with for over a decade going back to their days with the successful M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu Niños.
UC has a trump card in Cameroonian Frederick Elombe, the school’s very first foreign player. Aside from the 6-foot-7 forward, the Webmasters will lean on veterans Justine Dacalos and JR Puerto.
On the other side, SWU’s core of John Lloyd Luz, William Polican and Shaquille Imperial has been bolstered by the presence of former Far Eastern University aces Allen delos Santos and Reeve Ugsang, and former San Beda Red Cub, Daryl Nazareno.