UV’s title reign over as teammates nearly come to blows in loss to championship-bound USC

Charles Pepito of USC is challenged by Alwin Aguirre of UV during their semis game at the Cebu Coliseum. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

In what was a bitter end to an already contentious title reign, the proud University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers saw their kingdom crumble to pieces and then some, as fiery two-guard Franz Arong and import Jefferson Aguara nearly came to blows in the middle of the floor in their 61-67 loss to the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors in the semifinals of the Cesafi men’s basketball tournament last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

Already fractured after a miserable elimination round showing that saw them finish with a sub-par 4-6 (win-loss) record and get seeded fourth, the Green Lancers just could not overcome Shooster Olago and the rest of the Warriors, who needed nothing of their twice-to-beat advantage to overcome UV and reach the finals for the first time since 2007.

USC’s time in the spotlight was blacked out by the dark cloud that hung over UV’s camp as Arong and Aguara exchanged words and nearly exchanged blows with the game all but decided with 35 seconds left.

USC was ahead by slim pickings, 57-55, when Christian Laude sank consecutive baskets, the last one an open jumper from the keyhole to give the Warriors a 61-55 lead with 1:40 to go.

After a bad pass by UV forward Rhaffy Octobre that led to a turnover, Olago pushed the lead to eight, 63-55, as he overpowered Aguara in the post and dropped in a layup with 1:18 left.

On UV’s offensive, Aguara tried to retaliate but instead got stripped by Olago. With the win all but in the bag, Olago drove hard along the baseline and was all too happy to slam the ball home while Aguara stopped playing defense and merely stepped aside.

This irked Arong, a longtime pillar of UV basketball dating back to his high school days, who urged Aguara to continue playing. Words quickly escalated to combative stances as the two players eventually had to be restrained from going at each other’s throats, marking the sad end of the Lancers’ title reign this season.

Olago, who was named as the All Star Game MVP just last Sunday, continued his string of strong performances with 24 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots.

USC will now wait for the winner of the other semifinal match-up between Southwestern University (SWU) and the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R), which will be played tomorrow.

Game 1 of the best-of-five finals will be played on Oct. 12.

UV’s veteran guard John Abad scored 23 points before fouling out with 3:29 left.

In the juniors division, the Cebu Institute of Technology-University Wildkittens earned a seat in the double round-robin semifinals after creaming the University of Cebu Baby Webmasters, 78-67.