THE SOUTHWESTERN University (SWU)-Phinma Cobras fanned their flickering hopes of making it to the semifinal round with an 80-53 beatdown of the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Panthers yesterday in the 17th Cesafi men’s basketball tournament at the Cebu Coliseum.
Big man Edmundo Bayhonan came off the bench and scored 14 points while Daryl Nazareno chipped in 11 to help SWU-Phinma win its fourth game against five losses and remain in contention for a spot in the Final Four.
The Cobras broke the game wide open in the third with a huge 14-2 run sparked by the three-point shooting of former San Beda Red Cub Daryl Nazareno and ex-Perpetual Help Altalette Shaquille Imperial that turned a slim six-point lead into an 18-point cushion, 58-40, heading to the final canto.
A 9-2 run at the start of the fourth sealed the win for the Cobras as it gave them a huge 25-point lead, 67-42.
Imperial scored 16 points spiked by four triples to go with five rebounds and two steals while reserve guard William Polican nearly had a rare triple-double with 15 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.
RR Cauba led USPF with 12 points as the Panthers dropped to 3-8 (win-loss) with just one game to go in their season.
In the high school division, the Cebu Eastern College Dragons (4-5) crushed the University of San Carlos Baby Warriors (3-6), 73-51, while the University of San Jose-Recoletos Baby Jaguars (6-3) demolished the Cebu Institute of Technology-University Wildkittens (3-6), 70-39.