SWU Cobras Skipper William Polican surveys the court against Sheldon Gahi of the UV Green Lancers. | Gerard Vincent Francisco
CEBU CITY, Philippines – This year’s Partner’s Cup champions, Southwestern University (SWU) Phinma Cobras, will enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage against fourth ranked University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors when the semifinal round in the Cesafi collegiate basketball kicks off on November 12, 2019 at the Cebu Coliseum.
The Cobras ended the double elimination round at the top spot with a win-loss record of 10-2 after outlasting the Webmasters, 75-72, last Saturday, Nov. 9.
UC had a chance of taking over the top spot if they had won over SWU by at least eight points. This, because SWU had also won over them in the first round, 65-58, last Sept. 1.
With the loss, the Webmasters eventually had to settle for the second spot and will face defending champions University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers in the other semifinal game on Thursday, Nov. 14.
UC, however, will enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage against UV. Both teams finished with identical 8-4 records but UC takes the second spot because it swept UV in the double round eliminations.
UV, which capped its elimination campaign with a 76-64 thrashing of the University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars, settled for the third spot.
USC, on the other hand, had to wait a while to find out who it will face in the playoffs as it finished its elimination campaign ahead of the other teams.
The Warriors settled for the fourth place with a 7-5 record.
Meanwhile, the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Panthers finished the 19th season at fifth place with a 4-8 record after edging Cebu Institute of Technology University (CIT-U) Wildcats, 81-80, in their last game.
The CIT-U Wildcats avoided the bottom rung by finishing at the sixth spot with a 3-9 card.
Last year’s runner-up, USJ-R Jaguars, ended this season with a 2-10 card which had them plummeting at the bottom of the standings. / dcb