EVERYTHING seems to be going right finally for the University of the Visayas (UV) basketball teams in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) basketball tournament.
After a long and arduous pursuit, the UV Green Lancers claimed the top spot in the standings after an 80-59 rout of the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters on Sunday at the Cebu Coliseum.
Earlier in the day, their younger counterparts, the UV Baby Lancers, survived the Don Bosco Greywolves, 79-75, to come within just a win away from claiming an outright spot in the finals of the high school division.
UV and UC ended up tied with respective 9-3 (win-loss) records but the Green Lancers got the top spot by virtue of a higher point difference. The Webmasters won by just seven points, 72-65, over the Green Lancers in their first round encounter.
After starting the season with eight straight wins, things have taken a turn for the worse for UC as it ended the second round with three losses in its last four games.
Things could get even more complicated for the Webmasters if the University of San Jose-Recoletos Jaguars win against the Cebu Institute of Technology-University Wildcats on Tuesday. That situation would create a three-way tie at 9-3 with only the top two getting a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four.
Suerte led the way for UV with 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists while Gileant Delator and Josue Segumpan had 14 markers each.
On the other hand, UC just could not get it going and shot a horrendous 32 percent from the field. Worse, they missed 16 of their 22 attempts from the free-throw line.
The UC Junior Webmasters, meanwhile, won their eighth in nine games with a thrilling 65-53 win over the Cebu Eastern College Dragons.
In the last high school game of the afternoon, the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles outlasted the University of San Carlos (USC) Baby Warriors, 55-52, to keep their chances for the Final Four alive.
Ateneo de Cebu is now at 4-3 while USC lost their second straight and dropped to 5-3.