Shaquille Imperial of the SWU Cobras drives to the basket in a game against USC. CDN Digital photo | Jonas Rey N. Panerio
Cebu City, Philippines—The Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma Cobras bolstered their campaign for a top two finish after they blew away the Cebu Landmasters-University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors, 72-55, in the 2019 Cesafi Partner’s Cup on Thursday, July 18, 2019, at the Cebu Coliseum.
After gaining some headway in the second to lead, 37-28, at halftime, the Cobras continued to step on the gas pedal and kicked off the third canto with a 10-3 run sparked by Lamine Thiam and Red Cachuela to establish a 47-31 lead.
USC tried to rally and trimmed the deficit to 11, 46-57, at the halfway point of the fourth but the Cobras were unfazed and responded with a brief flurry of points that was capped off by a triple by Royce Alforque to bring their back up to 67-49.
SWU-Phinma, which pushed its win-loss record to 7-2, kept hold of second place in the standings, right behind the undefeated University of the Visayas, which totes a 9-0 mark.
The top two finishers at the end of the double round-robin elimination round will have a twice-to-beat advantage in the semifinal round.
Sweet-shooting Shaquille Imperial led the way for the Cobras with 18 points while Cachuela had 13 markers.
Thiam had a muted evening as he settled for just 11 markers.
USC dropped to 4-6. Sommy Managor led the team in scoring with 16 points. /bmjo
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
