The USJ-R Baby Jaguars are crowned Cesafi Partner’s Cup juniors champions. CDN Digital photo | Jonas Panerio
Cebu City, Philippines—What Ryzel Abatayo started, his teammates Kevin Guibao and Dilcer Gaviola made sure to finish as the University of San Jose-Recoletos Baby Jaguars finished with a flurry to put down the Cebu Landmasters-SHS-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles, 83-68, and win the 2019 Cesafi Partner’s Cup title in the high school division on Tuesday, August 6, 2019, at the packed Cebu Coliseum.
Abatayo scored 19 of his 28 points in the second period alone to lift the Baby Jaguars to a slim 36-33 lead at halftime. Then, Gaviola and Guibao combined to make three triples in a searing 11-1 run at the start of the third to put USJ-R ahead, 47-34.
The Magis Eagles fought back with an 11-0 run to trim the deficit down to three but the Baby Jaguars answered right back, with Guibao hitting a three-pointer and Abatayo canning three free-throws to shove USJ-R in front, 58-49, at the end of thre periods.
Ateneo de Cebu still had one last fight in them and pulled to within two, 62-64, after Ariel Dinglasan completed a three-point play, with 5:42 to go. However, that proved to be Ateneo de Cebu’s final hurrah as USJ-R finished strong, firing off a 19-4 run sparked by a lay-up by Abatayo, a long triple from the left wing by Gaviola and another three-pointer from the corner by Guibao followed by a transition layup that put the game out of reach, 74-62, time down to 3:09.
Abatayo led the way for USJ-R with 28 points while Guibao — who was named as the tournament MVP — finished with 21. Gaviola added 13 while Diether Go put up 10 points.
LA Casinillo led Ateneo de Cebu with 15 points while Dinglasan chipped in 13. /bmjo
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