Missed Ateneo de Cebu free throws give USJ-R victory

Kevin Guibao of USJ-R goes for a layup in the Cesafi Partner’s Cup at the Cebu Coliseum. CDNDIGITAL photo | Jonas Panerio

Cebu City, Philippines—The University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R)  Baby Jaguars escaped with a heart-pounding 68-67 win over the Cebu Landmasters-SHS-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles in the 2019 Cesafi Partner’s Cup on Tuesday, July 9, 2019, at the Cebu Coliseum.

With no time remaining, the Magis Eagles had a shot at completing a comeback from a 68-61 deficit with under two minutes remaining after Baby Jaguars forward Jed Diaz fouled Ateneo de Cebu’s Reymark Narbasa on a looseball scramble.

However, Narbasa’s nerves got the best of him as he badly missed the first one before shooting an airball on the second attempt to preserve USJ-R’s win.

LOOK: CESAFI PARTNER’S CUP PHOTO GALLERY: Ateneo de Cebu vs. USJ-R

USJ-R solidified its hold of second place in the high school standings with their 6-1 win-loss record.

They will be taking on the league leading and undefeated ARQ-University of the Visayas in their final elimination round assignment.

Narbasa’s missed free-throws were the silver lining to what was a near-disastrous endgame performance by the Baby Jaguars. They led, 68-61, after a steal and a transition layup by Kevin Guibao, with 1:48 remaining.

That, however, proved to be their final points of the game as Ateneo de Cebu came roaring back behind six makes from the free-throw line, the last two coming from Ariel Dinglasan. But the Magis Eagles could not finish the job off in the game’s frantic finish.

Diether Go led USJ-R with 21 points while Guibao added 14 markers. Kendrick Abarquez had 13 while Ryzel Abatayo put up 11.

The Magis Eagles were led by the 17 points of Dinglasan. However, Ateneo de Cebu dropped to 4-3 for this tournament. /bmjo