USC’s determination paying off 

Sommy Managor of USC is hounded by the UV defense in a Cesafi college basketball game on October 13, 2019 at the Cebu Coliseum. CDN Digital photo | Gerard Vincent Francisco

Games Saturday:

(October 19, 2019)

12:30 P.M. – USC vs CITU  (high school)

2 P.M. – UCLM vs. UC (high school)

3:30 P.M. – USPF vs. SWU (college)

5:00 P.M. – CITU vs. USJR (college)

Cebu City, Philippines—University of San Carlos (USC) men’s basketball head coach Bong Abad has said before that one of the things he likes about his current team is that his players have the will to win.

Read: Cesafi men’s basketball: USC coach likes what he’s seeing so far

The Warriors put to full display that determination coach Abad was talking about when they pulled  a huge victory against the defending champion University of the Visayas (UV) last Sunday, October 13, 2019.

“I give the credit to my players because they have the will to win. It was really a good game,” Abad said of the team’s 71-62 victory over the 13-time Cebu college basketball champions.

Read: Undermanned Warriors pull off upset against Green Lancers

“Actually, I didn’t expect the team to play that way. I just keep on reminding them to be focused and always compete,” he added.

The win put USC in third place in the team standings with a 6-3 (win-loss) card. The Warriors just the Green Lancers and the Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma Cobras, who have identical 6-2 cards. 

According to Abad, the team’s desire to win was  a key factor in the win against UV, saying his players followed the game plan to perfection.

The game plan was simple.

“[We] limited their high percentage shooting in the shaded lane and controlled their transition offense,” Abad said.

USC did a pretty good job defensively as it kept UV’s big men in check all-game long.

Only Jancork Cabahug reached double digits for UV with 10 points but even the sweet-shooting big man couldn’t get his rhythm going against USC.

Lass Coulibaly, UV’s tall foreign student athlete, was held down to just eight points, too. 

Read: UV skipper says team lacked defense, communication in loss to USC

While UV was struggling on offense, USC was getting a lot of firepower from its big man Joshua Magic Marata, who lit up the scoring board with 27 points, spiked by seven makes from beyond the arc.

“His shooting skills has really improved,” Abad said of his big man.  “He always goes hard during practice.”

Also playing big that game was playmaker Kurt Trangia, who had 15 markers and was responsible for orchestrating the team’s offense all-game long. 

USC, last year’s third placer, gets a long rest from action this week as its next game is set next Tuesday, October 22, 2019, against the University of San Jose-Recoletos.