ONE MORE TIME: SWU guns for fourth straight trip to finals against USJ-R in Cesafi semis

Games today
Cebu Coliseum
5:00 p.m. – USC vs USPF (Jrs.)
6:30 p.m. – SWU vs USJ-R (Srs.)

The Southwestern University Cobras try to advance to the championship round of the Cesafi basketball tournament against the University of San Jose-Recoletos, the same team that defeated them in the elimination round.
(CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

The Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras will try to make it back to the finals for the fourth straight year as they battle the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars in the semifinals of the Cesafi men’s basketball tournament today at the Cebu Coliseum.

With the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors already waiting in the wings after dispatching the erstwhile champions, University of the Visayas (UV), 67-61, last Tuesday, SWU aims to follow suit and advance to the best-of-five championship round for the chance to redeem themselves after last year’s incredible flame-out.

The Cobras were confidently in control of the finals series against UV, leading 2-0 last year, before self-combusting and losing the series and the title in five games to the defiant Green Lancers.

But a huge potential stumbling block stands in their way today in the resurgent University of San Jose-Recoletos, which beat the Cobras, 74-83 last week. Though it appeared as if SWU took their foot off the gas pedal in that game, the Jaguars still shot the lights out to win and seal their place in the semis.

“We cannot take USJ-R lightly. We don’t want to drag this out any longer than we have to. So we really have to play hard and go all out,” said SWU head coach and Cebu Provincial Board Member, Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba.

The Cobras have not played at full strength all season long, missing the services of Fil-Canadian Adams Mohammed who is still recovering from a broken foot. SWU though, is expected to have their best defensive forward Daryl Goloran back from a pulled hamstring and contend with USJ-R’s high-scoring rookie Kevin Villafranca.

SWU won its first and only Cesafi crown in 2012 while USJ-R last made the finals back in 2008 where they lost to the Greg Slaughter-powered Green Lancers.

In the juniors division, the third-seeded USC Baby Warriors guns for a seat in the semis when they face off against the sixth-seeded University of Southern Philippines Foundation Baby Panthers in the quarterfinals. Already in the semis are the unbeaten Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles and the Cebu Institute of Technology-University Wildkittens.