USJ-R’s Diether Go rises up for a layup. | Jonas Panerio
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The University of San Jose-Recoletos buckled down on defense in the fourth period, holding the Hotel Fortuna-University of Cebu Baby Webmasters to just three points in the first eight minutes, to author a 53-46 victory to put the Baby Jaguars in the finals of the 2019 Cesafi Partner’s Cup on Thursday, August 1, 2019, at the Cebu Coliseum.
The two teams played to a 39-all draw after the first three periods but USJ-R suddenly surged ahead with a brief 8-2 run for a 47-41 lead. Several plays later, Kendrick Abarquez scored on a putback while Ryzel Abatayo sank two free-throws to give the Baby Jaguars its biggest lead of the game at 51-42, time down to 1:41.
Allen Gako tried to keep UC in it with a pair of baskets by USJ-R guard Selwyn Pepito made two free-throws down the stretch to secure the win and the Baby Jaguars’ ticket to the finals.
Game 1 of the best-of-three championship series starts on Friday, August 2, at 5:30 p.m.
USJ-R will face off against the winner of the other semifinal game between the Cebu Landmasters-SHS-Ateneo de Cebu and the ARQ-University of the Visayas.
Abatayo led the Baby Jaguars in scoring with 14 points while Diether Go and Kevin Guibao had 10 markers each.
UC got 14 points from Mac-Z Micutuan but was the only player to reach double-figures for the Baby Webmasters./dbs