Games today (Cebu Coliseum)
1 p.m. – CEC vs Ateneo de Cebu (High School)
2:30 p.m. – UC vs UV (High School)
4 p.m. – USC vs USJ-R (College)
5:30 p.m. – CIT-U vs SWU (College)
The defending champions University of the Visayas Green Lancers took full advantage of an undermanned University of Southern Philippines Foundation Panthers to post a lopsided, 91-50 win in the 17th Cesafi men’s basketball tournament last night at the Cebu Coliseum.
The win–their eighth in nine matches–solidified UV’s hold of first place and the top seed in the Final Four. USPF on the other hand fell further away from the Final Four at 3-7.
USPF played sans five players in the aftermath of Thursday’s tussle against the University of Cebu. These were big men Kenneth Cada, Roy Quiachon, Ranje Mangyao, Jhmer Ranceli and Edwin Villarta.
Tristan Albina finished with 19 points and four steals, Ted Saga added 14 on a perfect 7-of-7 clip from the field, while Ubert Villaceran had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
In high school action, the University of San Jose-Recoletos Baby Jaguars moved up to third in the standings with an 86-58 win over the USC Baby Warriors. John Kirk Gonzaga torched the nets for 20 markers to help USJ-R improve to 5-2 and send USC down to 3-5.
In other high school matches, Southwestern University-Phinma (3-5) bested the University of Southern Philippines Foundation Baby Panthers (1-8), 105-98, behind Patrick Montano’s 22 points while the Cebu Institute of Technology-University Wildkittens (2-6) edged the Don Bosco Greywolves (2-6), 58-53.
Meanwhile in today’s games, the UV Baby Lancers will try to secure an outright spot in the championship round of the high school division but first must take out the University of Cebu Baby Webmasters in order to complete a sweep of the elimination round.
Already at 8-0, UV must contend with a UC squad that will no doubt be seeking to spoil the former’s march towards the finals. A UV win however, would relegate the chase for the other finals spot to a stepladder format.
The college games on the other hand, will be highlighted by a clash between the second-running USC Warriors and their close pursuer, the USJ-R Jaguars.
Making the match even more interesting is the fact that USC will be playing without four of their big men in Kent Cabanog, Kenn Oguis, Leo Labiste and Malcolm Tan, who were ejected for entering the court during an altercation late in their game versus the USPF Panthers. Their ejection merited a one-game suspension.