Southwestern University’s Shaquille Imperial drives to the basket for a layup as University of Cebu’s Tosh Sesay tries to block the shot during Cesafi Partner’s Cup action at the Cebu Coliseum on Saturday, June 22. | Gerard Francisco
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Southwestern University-Phinma Cobras turned away a furious comeback by the Joemangs Surplus-University of Cebu Webmasters to emerge victorious 88-79, in the 2019 Cesafi Partner’s Cup on Saturday, June 22, at the Cebu Coliseum.
The win gave the Cobras a 3-0 win-loss record, good for the best record in this preseason competition.
The Cobras brought their A-game and led by as much as 22, 52-30, early in the third period. However, the veteran-laden Webmasters did not fold easily and pulled to within four, 77-81, after steal and a layup by John Jabello, and a deuce by Tosh Sesay with 1:33 remaining.
Read more: SWU Cobras dump CIT-U Wildcats in Cesafi Partner’s Cup
But the Cobras responded with a banked-in three-pointer by Shaquille Imperial to give them an 84-77 cushion. UC’s last hurrah came off another layup by Jabello but SWU-Phinma did not blink and sealed the win with four straight free-throws from Imperial and Gerald Fernandez.
Lamine Thiam led the Cobras in scoring with 21 points before fouling out late in the third. Imperial and Red Cachuela each added 15 markers while Fernandez came off the bench to score 12.
Sesay paced UC with 21 points. The Webmasters however, dropped their second game in a row and fell to 3-2. Jabello contributed 19 while Albina put up 14 markers. Luigi Gabisan also scored in double-figures, tallying 11. |dbs