THE UNIVERSITY of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars manhandled the Southwestern University (SWU) – Phinma Cobras, 77-65, to gain a tie for second place in the standings of the 2018 Cesafi men’s basketball tournament on Sunday evening at the Cebu Coliseum.
The win was a wire-to-wire one for the Jaguars as they dominated the shaded lane, scoring a whopping 52 points inside, including a thunderous two-handed slam by Nigerian big man Segamars Ewenike that came off an alley-oop pass from Miguel Gastador.
Reigning league MVP Jaybie Mantilla filled the stat sheet with 19 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as the Jaguars improved to 4-1 (win-loss), the same record with the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) and right behind the unbeaten University of Cebu (UC), which owns a 5-0 card.
Ewenike had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Gastador added 16 points while Elmer Echavez chipped in 13 for USJ-R.
SWU-Phinma, which got 16 points from Reeve Ugsang and 15 markers from Shaquille Imperial, ended the first round of the eliminations with a 1-5 record.
In the high school division, last season’s runners-up, the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles finally barged into the win column with a 71-60 win over the Cebu Institute of Technology-University Wildkittens.
Eric Tuadles powered the Magis Eagles with 13 points, five rebounds and two steals while Ray Lewis collected 11 points and 12 boards as Ateneo de Cebu now has a 1-2 record.
In the curtain-raiser, the UC Baby Webmasters blew away Don Bosco, 62-38.
Jan Jerick Ranido led the assault with 24 points and seven rebounds as UC improved to 3-1.