Games today:
Cebu Coliseum
5 p.m. – UC vs CIT-U (College)
6:30 p.m. – UV vs SWU (College)
The Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma Cobras will try to keep their season alive but must hurdle a huge roadblock in the form of the reigning champions University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers today in the 17th Cesafi men’s basketball tournament at the Cebu Coliseum.
Standing in fifth place with a 4-6 win-loss card, the Cobras must sweep their last two games and hope that the fourth-running University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters stumble at least once in their remaining two assignments in order to gain a shot at making it to the semifinal round.
The Cobras are coming off a dominant 80-53 victory over the already ousted University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF). They hope to carry the momentum from that win to today’s encounter against the well-rested Green Lancers.
“We have to win our last two games. We have to limit their second chance points,” noted SWU-Phinma head coach Mike Reyes.
The Cobras’ sophomore guard Shaquille Imperial also said that they needed to step up to the challenge since beating the reigning title holders will not be a walk in the park.
“We just have to follow the system of coach Mike. And we have double our efforts because UV is not an easy team to beat,” said the sweet-shooting two-guard.
Though his team is already assured of a top-two finish and will be armed with a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four, UV head coach Gary Cortes said they aim to sharpen their focus as they await the final seedings.
“We don’t mind whether we end up as number one or two. We just need to prepare for any team that we might face in the semifinals,” stated Cortes, whose wards have rattled off eight straight wins after opening the season with a loss to the University of San Carlos.
In the first game, the Webmasters will be taking on the Cebu Institute of Technology-University Wildcats, with an eye on locking up the last ticket to the next round.
UC is raring to bounce back after it was beaten, 83-87, by the University of San Jose-Recoletos in spite of the 39 points of Cameroonian big man, Frederick Elombi.