The USC Warriors. CDN Digital photo | Glendale Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines—The University of San Carlos (USC) logged its third win by defeating Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma, 64-50, on Thursday night, October 19, 2023, at the Cebu Coliseum.
The USC Warriors are now among the top five in the Cesafi men’s basketball team standings with a 3-1 (win-loss) record.
The University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers are on top of the team standings so far with a 4-0 record followed by the University of Cebu Webmasters (3-0), University of Southern Philippines Foundation Panthers (3-0), and University of San Jose-Recoletos Jaguars (4-1), respectively.
READ MORE: Dela Torre sinks 8 treys in Baby Green Lancers win vs Baby Warriors
SWU-Phinma, the 2019 Cesafi basketball champions, are at seventh place with a 1-4 card.
The Warriors of head coach Paul Joven started to pull away in the second half as they went on to build a double-digit lead, 52-42, heading into the final period.
The Warriors were able to stretch their lead to as many as 17, 59-42, midway through the final period by capitalizing on SWU-Phinma’s turnovers.
READ MORE: Cesafi Season 23: USC Warriors edge Verallo Blue Dragons
James Gica and Bryle Puntual both topscored for USC with 17 markers.
Meanwhile, SWU-Phinma’s bigman Heider Bilao had 13 points in a losing effort.
USC will return to action in the Cesafi men’s basketball tournament on October 22 when it faces off against the Cebu Roosevelt Memorial Colleges (CRMC) Mustangs.
SWU-Phinma, on the other hand, will face UC on October 29.
/bmjo