BATTLE OF IMPORTS. University of the Visayas import Bassier Sackor (left) puts up a shot against University of Cebu reinforcement Frederick Elombi during Game 2 of the Desafi men’s basketball finals series Friday night at the Cebu Coliseum.
(CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
Green Lancers outlast Webmasters to force Sunday winner-take-all
The heart of a champion just wouldn’t stop beating as the reigning titleholder, University of the Visayas Green Lancers forced a winner-take-all Game Three following their, 77-66 win over the University of Cebu Webmasters in last night’s Game 2 of the 17th Cesafi men’s basketball finals at the Cebu Coliseum.
Down by 10, 38-48, midway through the third, the Green Lancers pounced on the fouling out of Webmasters guard Justine Dacalos to snatch the win.
Dacalos was called for his fourth foul and because of incessant complaining, was slapped with a warning call – his second of the game – resulting in a technical foul. That was his fifth of the match, causing his disqualification with 5:02 left in the third.
Dacalos already has nine points and seven rebounds when he fouled out. That’s nearly a double-double for the 5’6 guard.
With Dacalos gone, UV took control and immediately rattled off 13 straight points to grab the upper hand, 51-48. Guards Tristan Albina and Josue Segumpan sparked that mammoth run by making 11 in that stretch which helped the Green Lancers bring a 54-51 lead to the fourth.
From there, the Green Lancers rushed in front, 68-60, after Rey Suerte made a swooping layup in transition, with 2:40 left. The Webmasters made one last push behind reserve guard Michael Gonzaga who scored five straight including a corner triple that brought them to 65-68, 2:18 to go.
But the Green Lancers just wouldn’t budge as Jerome Napao responded with his own three-pointer that sparked a game-closing 9-1 run to give UV the series-tying win.
The two squads will play for all the marbles in Game Three, tomorrow at 4 p.m.
USJ-R’s Mantilla named MVP
Before the game, University of San Jose-Recoletos guard Jaybie Mantilla was named as the men’s MVP. He also snagged a spot on the Mythical Five alongside UV’s Suerte and Napao, UC’s JR Puerto and the University of San Carlos’ John Reel Saycon.
Albina and Napao led the way for the men in green with 18 points each while Suerte filled the stat sheet with 13 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, four steals and a blocked shot. Monic Soliva added 12.
Frederick Elombi paced UC with 19 but was kept off the boards, as he finished with a mere four rebounds. Joven Tagudin added 12 while Ruben Ludovice continued his fine play with 10 points and 16 boards.
