Lass Coulibally of UV soars for a dunk in the semifinal game against USC at the Cebu Coliseum. CDN Digital photo | Jonas Panerio
Cebu City, Philippines — From acting head coach to big shot maker, Gileant “The Little General” Delator showed he could do it all as he helped shove the ARQ Builders-University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers into the finals with a 78-70 win over the Cebu Landmasters-University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors in the semifinals of the 2019 Cesafi Partner’s Cup on Monday, July 29, 2019, at the Cebu Coliseum.
Delator, who played the role of head coach in UV’s last game, hit two crucial, shotclock-beating jumpers in the last two minutes of the game that kept USC at bay and eventually give the Green Lancers the thrilling win.
The victory was reminiscent of the Green Lancers’ second round win over the Warriors. This time, USC led by as much as 13 points in the second half before UV came roaring back to take the lead, 54-52, behind a 16-4 run capped off by a fastbreak layup by speedy guard Sheldon Gahi.
USC kept themselves in it and last held the lead at 60-58 before UV uncorked yet another run — this time scoring 10 unanswered points, eight coming from African student-athlete Lass Coulibally and Jancork Cabahug — to give the Green Lancers a 68-60 lead.
After Warriors hotshot Froilan Mangubat canned a triple, Delator beat the shotclock buzzer with a stepback jumper to give the Green Lancers a seven-point cushion, 70-63, with 2:37 to go. USC kept the pressure on and pulled to within three, 70-73, after a transition layup by Jules Langres.
The Warriors even had a shot at tying the game after a fantastic defensive stand capped off by a Sommy Managor block on a Delator layup attempt. However, Mangubat threw an errant pass that landed in the hands of UV guard Froiland Maglasang.
Then, Delator sealed the win as he swished a three-pointer that once again beat the shotclock buzzer to push UV to a 76-70 lead with just 11.4 seconds left.
The drama however, did not end at the final buzzer as UV head coach Gary Cortes, incensed after a hard foul that was given by USC guard Roosvelt Jelliangao on Coulibally, confronted the former Baby Lancer as the teams met at halfcourt for the ceremonial post-game handshake. This led to Jelliangao’s father coming down from the stands to defend his son.
Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and the evening ended without any further incident.
Coulibally finished the game with 23 points while Cabahug added 14. Delator finished with 13 markers.
Kurt Trangia led USC with 18 points but could not finish the game after sustaining an apparent leg injury. Mangubat added 16 while Langres pitched in 12. However, the missing link for the Warriors was Nigerian big man, Sommy Managor, who was held down to a mere two points./bmjo