CEBU CITY, Philippines —The University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers swept their games to clinch the 1st Uy Masuy Cup title late Sunday night, February 16, 2020, at the Cebu City Sports Institute.
The Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) Season 19 runner-up managed to squeak past the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters, 106-105, in their last assignment.
The tournament followed a single round robin format with the team having the most number of wins being declared as the champion.
UV got a clean sheet with its 3-0 win-loss record. Their first win was against the Cesafi 19 champion Southwestern University (SWU) Phinma Cobras, 89-86, and the second was against the IPL Geckos, 103-101.
The UC Webmasters and the IPL Geckos ended with identical 2-1 win-loss records. IPL, however, took the runner-up honors because it defeated UC, 76-66.
The Cobras, for their part, dropped all of their three games and ended the three-day tournament with an 0-3 record.
UV waxed hot from the start and kept UC at arm’s length that is until the second half.
UC staged a furious rally and erased a 15-point lead by UV in the final canto but got short at the end buzzer.
UV was led by its foreign student athlete Lassina Coulibaly, who had a double-double performance of 34 points and 13 rebounds.
UV also got the most of former Webmaster Melvin Butohan, who had his own double-double of 14 points and 12 boards.
Two other Green Lancers scored in double figures—Jiesel Tarrosa with 19 and Froiland Maglasang, who sank five treys, with 17 points.
UC, on the other hand, was towed by Rodel Gravera with 22 points. Also dishing a double-double performance for UC was foreign student athlete Tosh Sesay with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Isiah Blanco also chipped in 19 points, Paul Galinato with 13 and Richmond Lapinid with 10 points.
The 1st Uy Masuy Cup was spearheaded by Cebuano hotshot now Cebu City Councilor Dondon Hontiveros with the help of Marcus Callahan and Simon Green, the athletic trainer of the Rucker Pro Legends.
One of the goals of the tournament was to give the visiting Rucker Pro Legends cagers of New York exposure.
They manned the IPL Geckos that was beefed up by some cagers who played for the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) such as Sam Swint and Roy Quiachon Jr. /bmjo