Players from SWU and CIT-U battle in a Cesafi men’s basketball game at the cebu Coliseum.
THE Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma Cobras can finally heave a sigh of relief as they won their first game of the season with an 87-45 demolition job of the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) Wildcats in the 17th Cesafi men’s basketball tournament last night at the Cebu Coliseum.
Sophomore sniper Shaquille Imperial set the tone early with his impeccable shooting in the first canto, where he drained three three-pointers – including a rare four-point play – that helped the Cobras zoom off to a 28-6 lead.
It was all downhill from there as the Cobras stepped on the gas pedal some more and extended their lead to 25, 35-10, with a three-pointer from little-used guard Kim Reyes, at the halfway point of the second period.
The intensity ratcheted up a notch in the third as SWU-Phinma’s star guard John Lloyd Luz and CIT-U’s Kerr Nemil got ejected with 5:40 remaining during that stretch for fighting.
Luz was on his way to the basket when he was met with a closed-fist by Nemil. Not one to back down, Luz retaliated with a punch that left the CIT-U big man bloodied.
The result was a foregone conclusion as the Cobras ran away with the 38-point win.
Imperial paced the winners with 19 points, while reserves Edmundo Bayhonan and Dyll Roncal pitched in 10 each.