BAD TIMING

Frederick Elombi of UC in a rebound battle against UV’s Bassiere Sackor in Game 1 of the Cesafi men’s finals.
(CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

Alcoseba explains why Elombi went cold in Game 3

A day after the puzzling disappearing act of Cameroonian powerhouse Frederick Elombi in University of Cebu’s (UC) heartbreaking 56-69 loss to the University of the Visayas (UV) in the deciding game of the 17th Cesafi men’s basketball finals, Webmasters head coach Yayoy Alcoseba reported that his prized foreign player was actually suffering from high fever during game day.

“He was hobbled by a fever and even had to consult the league doctor before playing,” said the multi-titled head coach, a claim that was corroborated by league physician Dr. Rhoel Dejano.

Dejano said he gave the 6-foot-8 forward medications before tip-off, but it did little to help Elombi, whose headache was made even worse by the leech-like UV defense that forced him to play a nightmare of a game, finishing with a mere three points – all on free-throws and all during the fourth period.

And although he managed to help out in other departments, tallying 11 rebounds, six assists, four steals and three blocks, the lack of scoring hobbled the Webmasters as they failed to keep up when the Green Lancers stepped on the gas pedal in the fourth to break the game wide open and eventually claim their 12th men’s basketball title.

UV deserves title
Alcoseba, though, made no excuse and gave all the credit to UV for besting them in Game 3.

“I’m not making any excuses. We lost to a very good UV team. They deserve the championship,” said Alcoseba.

As for Elombi, Alcoseba said he still has a lot to learn.

“Frederick is still young. Despite how good he was in the first and second round in the semis, he is still inexperienced and has much to learn,” assessed Alcoseba of his stud recruit who finished the season with the average of 21.8 points, 13.6 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 2.1 blocks per game.

Alcoseba added that with the season over, they will now work on improving the rest of Elombi’s arsenal.

Elombi isn’t the only inexperienced man on his roster, Alcoseba said, but they all did well to reach the finals and even put a scare into their battle-tested opponents.

“The team is young and inexperienced. We only have three players playing in their last season. The rest are rookies and sophomores. Despite this, we managed to reach the finals. I’m pretty sure nobody counted us to be in the Final Four or even in the finals but we did, and even surprised UV with that one game. Hopefully we will learn from this experience and improve on it next season.”