USC Warriors, SWU Cobras fight for Cesafi men’s hoop crown in winner-take-all Game 5

Game today
Cebu Coliseum
Game 5, Series tied 2-2
6 p.m. – SWU vs. USC

Head coach Junthy Valenzuela will try to lead the USC Warriors to their first-ever title in Cesafi men’s basketball tournament. (CDN PHOTO/ LITO TECSON)

What has been a tantalizing saga between the favored Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras and the upstart University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors comes to what is expected to be an epic end  today as they clash for southern hardcourt supremacy in the deciding Game 5 of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) men’s basketball championship series at the Cebu Coliseum.

For the Cobras, this marks the fourth straight year that they will be playing in a Game 5. They were beaten, 54-60, in Game 5 of the 2011 finals by the University of Cebu Webmasters before slipping past the University of the Visayas Green Lancers, 73-72, in Game 5 of the 2012 championship series. However, the Green Lancers got back at the Cobras in Game 5 last year, 63-62.

And head coach Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba, who sports a 1-2 (win-loss) record in the finals in the past few years that all that experience playing high-stakes basketball will not mean a thing if the Cobras do not play with urgency, pride and effort.

“Whoever plays with more effort and defends well enough will win this game. All that experience doesn’t mean anything because that will not translate into wins. Effort will,” Alcoseba said after the team’s practice yesterday.

Alcoseba’s wards once again got outrebounded in their 46-58 Game 4 loss, 23-31, a stat that the long-time mentor said helped hasten their downfall.

“The rebounding numbers says it all. If we get outrebounded, it just means that they’re working harder than us and that they wanted the ball and the win more than us. We have to get better at controlling the boards,” said the Cebu Provincial Board Member.

And for USC head coach Junthy Valenzuela, the method to his madness remains the same as they continue on their quest to hoist their very first championship in the Cesafi – why fix something that isn’t broken?

“We’ll keep on doing what brought us to this moment and that is play defense and limit the scoring of their top four players, namely (Jasper) Parker, (Jovanie) Luz, Mark (Tallo) and (Landry) Sanjo. Now if we can limit three of those players from reaching double figures, I think we’ll do just fine,” said the former pro turned head coach.