THE University of the Visayas (UV) has nothing to be ashamed of despite losing to La Salle Greenhills in the finals of the 33rd SBP Passerelle Twin Tournament National Finals backed by Milo.
Especially after gaining the respect of La salle Greenhills coach Justin Tan.
The SBP squad of UV gave La Salle Greenhills a run for their money before falling in the title game, 52-48, on Sunday afternoon at the University of the Assumption gym in San Fernando, Pampanga.
“Galing nila. (They are good.) We really had a hard time dealing with the scrappiness of UV,” said Tan.
Tan said it was a good thing that his key players came to the rescue. “Our leaders also stepped up to the challenge,” he added.
UV head coach Ronald Bucao also had nothing but praise for his young players.
“We are proud of the boys for showing that we can match up with the best teams from Manila,” said Bucao.
Down 37-44 heading to the final canto, the wards of Bucao fought back to within, 43-45, after a deuce by Neil Sinoy.
But La Salle did not blink and rattled off seven straight points off two free throws by Michael Cortez and a three-point play by Andre Minas to lead, 50-43.
UV pulled to 48-50 with 1:21 to go after a triple by Kenneth Cole and a basket by Khian Panerio, but La Salle readily answered with a clutch bucket from Lorenzo Hizon that sealed the win and a third straight championship for the boys from Greenhills.
Hizon and Cortez had 10 points each for La Salle.
Meanwhile in the Passerelle division, National University (NU) clobbered Corpus Christi, 99-39.
Former University of San Carlos standout Reinhard Jumamoy, ex-University of the Visayas stud Daniel Padilla and former Don Bosco ace Sid Reroma all chipped in to pave the way for NU’s dominant victory.