Green Lancers at second place after win against Jaguars

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CEBU CITY, Philippines —The defending champion University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers climbed to second place following its victory over the University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars, 76-56, in the College division of the ongoing 19th Cesafi Men’s Basketball Tournament on Tuesday night, September 24, 2019.

UV improved its win-loss record to 3-1, trailing just the Partner’s Cup champions Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma, which has a 3-0 (win-loss) record.

UV defeated USJ-R in the finals last year for its third straight title, its 13th overall. 

“Nindot kaayo akong na feel kay last year mao amo na finals, karon gipangandaman namo, mao ra gihapon among game plan. Maayo ang dagan sa sistema,” said Gileant Delator, who contributed eight points, four assists and five steals in UV’s win.

(It’s a wonderful feeling because we went up against them in the finals, we had the same game plan because most of them are rookies, our team too, we had a good system.) 

Watch Delator’s full interview here:

https://www.facebook.com/cdndigital/videos/559406414834018/

Leading UV to its second straight win so far in the season was Ted Saga, who had 14 points, which included four makes from beyond the arc.

Both teams started hot tying the game twice early in the first quarter before UV began to pull away following four triples, two each from Froiland Maglasang and Saga. The last two from Saga allowed UV to have a 10-point advantage, 25-15, going into the second quarter.

Saga fired two triples to start the second quarter and UV’s lead went up to 16 points, 31-15, before USJ-R managed to make shots  via Aaron Tabio, who had five straight points capped by a three-point play.

The first half ended with USJ-R still trailing UV by 13, 29-42.

The Jaguars are runners-up for nothing as they got hot in the third canto behind Renz Solomon, Johndel Robles, and Karl Hyden Cabulao to  bring down the Green Lancers’ lead to just five points, 41-46, with still five minutes left in the third quarter.

However, it was also then that UV’s Delator combined with Monic Soliva and Lassina Coulibaly to once again widen the gap and bring UV’s lead back to 13 points, 58-45, going into the final canto.

The last quarter saw UV in control and building up its lead to as much as 23 points, 72-49, on Coulibaly’s basket.

Topscoring for USJ-R was Solomon with 12. He was also the only Jaguar who scored in double figures.

The loss gave USJ-R Jaguars a 1-3 card.

Prior to the collegiate game, the High School division defending champion University of Cebu (UC) Baby Webmasters stretched their streak to 4-0 at the expense of the younger USJ-R team, the Baby Jaguars, 73-51.

While the win gave the Baby Webmasters a tighter grip of the top spot, the Baby Jaguars    remained as one of the two teams which has yet to win a game so far this season. They now tote an 0-3 card.

BOXSCORES:

College

UV Green Lancers (76) – Saga 14, Soliva 12, Cabahug 9, Maglasang 9,  Delator 8, Butohan 7, Coulibaly 7, Avanceña 4, Maestre 3, Gahi 2, Yulo 1.

USJ-R Jaguars (56) – Solomon 12, Echavez 9, Robles 8, Camara 6, Tabio 6, Carin 5, Cabulao 4, Gonzaga 4, Paras 2. 

High School

UC Baby Webmasters (73) – Balaga 17, Pondoc 10, Micutuan 9, Leonard 7, Acenas 6, Blanco 5, Enriquez 5, Gako 5, Lapiz 5, Polinar 2, Sevellejo 2.

USJ-R Baby Jaguars (51) – Guibao 22, Abatayo 10, Go 7, Gaviola 6, Co 4, Abarquez 2, Maglinte 2, Pepito 2. /bmjo