CEBU CITY, Philippines – After bringing home the third-place trophy of the National Collegiate Championship of the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL), the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers will now be gearing up to defend the regional senior basketball title of the Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA).
The PRISAA regional final was held over the weekend but the basketball competition will be held this weekend yet, March 13 and 14, 2020 at the UV basketball gym.
This is because UV was not available last weekend as it was still competing in the PCCL in Manila.
The champions of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) represented Cebu City to the regional finals but the UV Green Lancers will continue representing Cebu City in the senior basketball competition despite finishing as the first runner-up in the Cesafi Season 19.
This was because Cesafi Season 19 champions, Southwestern University (SWU) Phinma Cobras, is not a member of the PRISAA.
According to technical head committee Danilo Villadolid, it has already been agreed that should a Cesafi champion team not be able to compete, the runner-up will take up the honor of representing Cebu City in the PRISAA.
The winners of the PRISAA Regional Finals will represent Central Visayas to the PRISAA National Finals slated this April in Tuguegarao.
The UV Green Lancers will be defending their regional title against a team manned by a mix of players from the different colleges and universities of Bohol.
Since there are only two teams, UV and Bohol will have to play in a best-of-three format.
Should they successfully retain their regional crown, the UV Green Lancers will be vying for a third national title under the leadership of head coach Gary Cortes.
They finished as runner-up last year after losing to Calabarzon by a half shot, 109-108, in the national championships. /rcg