Cebu City, Philippines—University of San Carlos (USC) head coach Bong Abad still remembers the play clearly.
Down three, 84-87, with 0.9 seconds left in a battle-for-third game against the University of Cebu (UC), Abad drew up a play that would leave his 6-foot-8 import Sommy Managor open for three.
Not many thought Managor, a known inside player, would make that shot.
But he did.
That miracle shot sent the game into overtime and USC went on to upset the Webmasters, 103-96, and win the third place trophy.
Relive that game here:
“We were so happy because we sent it to overtime and we eventually won,” says Abad, looking back at that game held October 25, 2018 at the Cebu Coliseum. “I really didn’t expect Sommy to make that shot but he was left open.”
More than a year after, Abad and his wards, with Managor still manning the shaded lane, take on UC again for a shot at the third place trophy anew.
What can we expect from the hard fighting Warriors squad?
“This will be our last game of the season so I told the players that we play our best to win the game so that we will have a positive ending to our Cesafi stint,” Abad said.
The game will be on Tuesday, November 19, 2019, at the Cebu Coliseum, right after the battle-for-third in the high school division pitting the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) and University of the Visayas (UV).
USC and UC were left to fight for third after losing to their respective semifinal opponents.
The Warriors, who finished at fourth place after the elimination round, lost to the top-ranked Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma Cobras who was armed with a twice-to-beat edge.
The Webmasters, on the other hand, had a twice-to-beat advantage against defending champion UV but lost both matches to drop to the third place match.
Abad knows UC is also aching to bounce back from that painful loss, which means much is expected from the game on Tuesday.
“Of course we know they’re coming from a loss to UV so their morale is kinda low but we also know they would want to get back on their feet,” Abad said. /bmjo