Defense wins championships, take it from the Green Lancers

UV head coach Gary Cortes is carried by some of his players as they celebrate their championship victory over UC in the Cesafi men’s basketball finals at the Cebu Coliseum. CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON

UV shuts down UC’s Elombi, secures Cesafi men’s basketball title anew

Putting a premium on defense, the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers captured their second straight championship in the men’s division with a hard-fought, 69-56, victory over the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters in the deciding Game 3 of the 17th Cesafi basketball tournament last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

The Green Lancers defense was so good that UC’s Cameroonian powerhouse Frederick Elombi was held down to a season-low three points. He didn’t make a single field goal from his 10 attempts and his first point didn’t come until the 8:28 mark of the fourth when he made a free-throw.

Though Elombi added 11 rebounds, six assists, four steals and three blocks, UV’s swarming defense made him invisible on the offensive end and that doomed UC’s chances of pulling off an upset over the defending champions.

“We just wanted to stick with him and not let him go to his strengths, which is his speed and perimeter shooting,” said UV head coach Gary Cortes, who is so far 2-0 in the championship round with UV.

“I’m glad that they responded to the adjustments that we made [after losing game 1]. I hope that this team will go further and that we’ll be back to defend the title.” The men’s title capped off what has been a tremendous season for UV basketball after its juniors squad nabbed the high school title earlier this week. The golden double is a feat that UV has not achieved since the 2007 season.

The men’s team now has 12 titles across its name, the most in Cesafi history.

While Elombi, UC’s main offensive weapon, struggled to get his usual output, UV’s big guns came out firing.

Last year’s MVP Rey Suerte had 20 points to go with four rebounds, five assists and three steals while Jan Monic Soliva scored 10. Liberian big man Bassiere Sackor and Mythical Five forward Jerome Napao nearly had double-doubles as they each had nine points and 11 boards.

Still, UV had to scrap to get the victory as UC fought back from a 15-point deficit and trimmed the lead to two, 46-48, behind the three-point shooting of guard Justine Dacalos, who made three triples in the third period.

But UV kept its heads up and responded with five straight points from Soliva and Suerte to give the team a 53-46 lead heading to the final frame.

The Green Lancers then put the Webmasters away with a decisive 11-2 run that gave UV a huge 67-53 lead with just 3:17 left.