Baby Webmasters, Baby Panthers, Baby Lancers assured of semis slots

The University of Cebu Baby Webmasters are among the three teams assured of a semifinals slot in the CESAFI high school basketball tournament. | Gerard Francisco

Games Tuesday, October 22, 2019 at Cebu Coliseum

5:15 p.m. — USJ-R vs USC (High School)

6:45 p.m. — USJ-R vs USC (College)

CEBU CITY, Philippines — With more than half of the games already played in the high school division of the ongoing 19th Cesafi men’s basketball tournament, the current top three teams are already assured of a semifinals slot.

These are defending champion University of Cebu (UC) Baby Webmasters, University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Baby Panthers and last year’s runner-up University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers.

The UC Baby Webmasters had their first taste of defeat last Saturday, October 19, 2019, ironically from their  sister school, University of Cebu Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue (UCLM), 69-66.

Still, the defending champions have a tighter grip of the top spot with a win-loss record of 7-1, with two more games to play in the elimination round.

The USPF Panthers, on the other hand, have the second spot also tied up with one more game left. They tote a 7-2 card.

The UV Baby Lancers, for their part, owned a 6-2 card, also with two games left.

Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Magis Eagles which lost to the USPF, 84-80, last Sunday, October 20, must win their remaining four games to advance into the top four. At the moment, the Magis Eagles carry a 4-2 record.

Also staying in contention are University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R) Baby Jaguars, University of San Carlos (USC) Baby Warriors and Cebu Eastern College (CEC) Dragons. 

The three have an outside chance of making it to the top four, that is if they could also sweep their remaining elimination games.

USJ-R Baby Jaguars which was one of the last teams to barge into the win column improved their chances by ending the Don Bosco Technical College (DBTC) Greywolves’ hopes last Sunday, October 20 via a 79-64 thrashing. 

The Baby Jaguars are on a three-game streak since winning their first game last October 5 at the expense of UCLM. It took them four games before nailing their first win.

The USC Baby Warriors are also keeping their hopes alive with a 73-70 outsmarting of the Cebu Institute of Technology University (CIT-U) Wildkittens  last October 19. 

The CEC Dragons, on the other hand, are also staying in contention by ending the chances of Southwestern University (SWU) Phinma Baby Cobras, 74-61, on October 20. 

With a 2-7 card, CIT-U is also now out of contention alongside UCLM which has a 1-6 record./dbs