Samuel Melicor Jr. (in white jersey) will be one of the key players as the UV Baby Lancers hope to end the elimination with a win. | Gerard Vincent Francisco
Games on Tuesday, November 5, at the Cebu Coliseum
5:15 p.m. UV vs UCLM (High School)
6:45 p.m. UV vs SWU (College)
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The University of Cebu Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue (UCLM) hopes to end its 2019 campaign with a win as they face the University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers as the action in the Cesafi basketball High School division winds down to its last week.
UCLM though will have to work hard for that win as the UV Baby Lancers, last year’s runner-up, will not easily concede the game considering that they’re also fighting to stay in the top two spots to have that twice to beat advantage in the semifinals.
The UV Baby Lancers are already assured of a semifinals slot while UCLM is fighting not to end this season at the bottom rung.
UV flaunts a 7-2 win-loss record and is currently ranked second while UCLM totes a 7-2 card and is in 9th place.
Despite being in the bottom half of the standings, UCLM is currently the only team that has defeated defending champions University of Cebu (UC) Baby Webmasters, 69-66, last October 19.
While UCLM hopes to shrug off the loss it suffered from the hands of the Don Bosco Technical College (DBTC) Greywolves, UV, for its part, is coming off a three-game winning streak.
Only six teams, including both UCLM and UV, have yet to complete their elimination games. The rest are the UC Baby Webmasters (8-1), Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Magis Eagles (6-2), Cebu Eastern College (CEC) Dragons (5-4), and University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R) Baby Jaguars (4-4).
The five teams that have already completed their 10 games each are University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Baby Panthers (7-3), DBTC Greywolves (5-5), University of San Carlos (USC) Baby Warriors (3-7), Southwestern University (SWU) Phinma Baby Cobras (2-8) and Cebu Institute of Technology University (CIT-U) Wildkittens (2-8).
UC, UV and USPF are already assured of semifinals slots while the last slot is being contested by Ateneo, CEC and USJ-R. / dcb