A teammate of USPF foreign student-athlete Sameen Swint fixes the paper taped to the back of his jersey during a game against the USJ-R Jaguars on October 5, 2019. Swint wasn’t allowed to play in that game for not wearing the proper uniform. CDN Digital photo | Brian J. Ochoa
Games Tuesday
October 8, 2019
(Cebu Coliseum)
5:15 p.m. – UV vs CIT-U (High School)
6:45 p.m. – UV vs USPF (College)
Cebu City, Philippines—University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) head coach Brian James Jereza knows how serious his wards should be heading into a rematch against the three-time defending champion University of the Visayas (UV) in the Cesafi men’s basketball tournament on Tuesday, October 8, 2019, at the Cebu Coliseum
Yet, Jereza managed to inject a bit of humor when asked about his team’s preparation going into their second round encounter with the Green Lancers.
His plan is simple.
“Mag uniform na si Swint,” the active head coach and team manager said with a laugh. (Swint will have a uniform already)
Jereza was referring to USPF’s 77-61 loss to the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) last October 5, 2019, wherein prolific import Sameen Swint was not eligible to play due to uniform issues.
Read: USJ-R Jaguars opens second round with win over USPF Panthers
Swint started the game wearing a uniform with his number printed on a paper, taped on the back and front of his jersey.
The game was halted just minutes after the start of the game and league officials decided to disallow Swint from playing with that kind of a uniform.
Team officials said that Swint’s uniform was allegedly damaged, ironically in a game against UV on October 1.
USPF, which sports a 3-4 (win-loss) record, also lost that game, 102-82, as Swint struggled with the physicality of UV’s defense.
Read: UV Green Lancers end first round of eliminations at top spot
Watch the first round encounter here care of Cesafi Live:
The team had a new uniform made but it didn’t finish on time for the game against the Jaguars.
This time, Jereza confirmed that Swint does have a new uniform ready.
That’s good news as Jereza knows USPF has a better chance of winning against a Green Lancers squad toting a league-best 5-1 record with his American student-athlete on the court.
Still strong
The task will still be quite difficult despite that the three-time defending champions will be missing two key players in Gileant Delator and Jiesel Tarrosa.
Both will be serving one-game suspensions for their unsportsmanlike behavior in the previous game against USPF to end their first round campaign.
Jereza doesn’t believe, though, that UV will be a lesser team without the two.
“I think they are still strong [even] without the two,” Jereza said.
True enough, UV head coach feels they’re okay without Delator and Tarrosa.
“Each member of the Green Lancers [play a] big factor. But for sure, all of their teammates will fill in for [them],” said Cortes.
Cortes said he has Sheldon Gahi, rookie snesation Gab Cometa, and Clyde Avanceña he can use to fill in Delator’s spot while Tarrosa shares his position with reliables Jancork Cabahug, Michael Maestre, and Monic Soliva.