Ateneo de Cebu’s John Aguilar drives to the basket in a Cesafi Partner’s Cup high school game against UC. CDN Digital photo | Jonas Panerio
Cebu City, Philippines—The Hotel Fortuna-University of Cebu (UC) Baby Webmasters proved steadier in crunchtime as they vanquished the Cebu Landmasters-SHS-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles, 60-56, in the 2019 Cesafi Partner’s Cup on Thursday, July 4, 2019, at the Cebu Coliseum.
UC’s defense stepped up in a huge way in the final minute of the game to preserve the win.
The Baby Webmasters were up by as many as 20 in the second half but saw that lead trimmed to just four, 56-60, with under a minute remaining.
With ball possession with the Magis Eagles and a chance to pull closer, the Baby Webmasters buckled down on defense, snuffing out LA Casinillo’s drive to force a 24-second shotclock violation with 29.7 seconds remaining.
Ateneo de Cebu declined to foul and opted to play straight up defense and UC ate up the time remaining to nab the win, its third in five games.
Kenyon Pondoc and Dante Lapiz led UC with 12 points apiece.
Casinillo and Reymark Narbasa each had 12 markers for Ateneo de Cebu, which fell to 3-2. /bmjo